I   oo 


tDWiH   4. 


^^TT.--*- 


atr>y 


/^' 


ACROSS    CHINA 
ON    FOOT 

LIFE    IN    THE   INTERIOR 

AND   THE 

REFORM    MOVEMENT 


EDWIN    J.    DINGLE 


WITH     NUMEROUS     ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW    YORK 

HENRY    HOLT    AND    COMPANY 

1911 


All  rights  reserved 


Printed  and  Published  in  Great  Britain  by 
J.  W.  Arrow-smith  Ltd.,  Bristol,  England 


'7 

T 


IN    GRATEFUL    ESTEEM. 


During  my  travels  in  Interior  China   I  once 

LAY  AT  THE  POINT  OF  DEATH.  FOR  THEIR 
UNREMITTING  KINDNESS  DURING  A  LONG  ILLNESS, 
I  NOW  AFFECTIONATELY  INSCRIBE  THIS  VOLUME  TO 
MY   FRIENDS,    Mr.    AND    MrS.    A.    EVANS,    OF    TONG- 

ch'uan-fu,    YiJN-NAN,     South-West    China,     to 

WHOSE      devoted      NURSING     AND      UNTIRING    CARE 
I    OWE    MY    life. 


15^1297 


AUTHOR'S    NOTE. 


To  travel  in  China  is  easy.  To  walk  across  China, 
over  roads  acknowledgedly  worse  than  are  met  with 
in  any  civilised  country  in  the  two  hemispheres,  and 
having  accommodation  unequalled  for  crudeness  and 
insanitation,  is  not  easy.  In  deciding  to  travel  in 
China,  I  determined  to  cross  overland  from  the  head 
of  the  Yangtze  Gorges  to  British  Burma  on  foot  ; 
and,  although  the  strain  nearly  cost  me  my  life,  no 
conveyance  was  used  in  any  part  of  my  journey 
other  than  at  two  points  described  in  the  course  of 
the  narrative.  For  several  days  during  my  travels 
I  lay  at  the  point  of  death.  The  arduousness  of 
constant  mountaineering— for  such  is  ordinary 
travel  in  most  parts  of  Western  China — laid  the 
foundation  of  a  long  illness,  rendering  it  impossible 
for  me  to  continue  my  walking,  and  as  a  consequence 
I  resided  in  the  interior  of  China  during  a  period 
of  convalescence  of  several  months  duration,  at  the 
end  of  which  I  continued  my  cross-country  tramp. 
Subsequently  I  returned  into  Yiin-nan  from  Burma, 
lived  again  in  Tong-ch'uan-fu  and  Chao-t'ong-fu, 
and  travelled  in  the  wilds  of  the  surrounding 
country.     Whilst  travelhng  I  lived  on  Chinese  food, 

vii 


AUTHOR'S    NOTE. 

and  in  the  Miao  country,  where  rice  could  not  be  got, 
subsisted  for  many  days  on  maize  only. 

My  sole  object  in  going  to  China  was  a  personal 
desire  to  see  China  from  the  inside.  My  trip  was 
undertaken  for  no  other  purpose.  I  carried  no 
instruments  (with  the  exception  of  an  aneroid),  and 
did  not  even  make  a  single  survey  of  the  untrodden 
country  through  which  I  occasionally  passed.  So 
far  as  I  know,  I  am  the  only  traveller,  apart  from 
members  of  the  missionary  community,  who  has  ever 
resided  far  away  in  the  interior  of  the  Celestial 
Empire  for  so  long  a  time. 

Most  of  the  manuscript  for  this  book  was  written 
as  I  went  along — a  good  deal  of  it  actually  by  the 
roadside  in  rural  China.  When  my  journey  was 
completed,  the  following  news  paragraph  in  the 
North  China  Daily  News  (of  Shanghai)  was  brought 
to  my  notice  : — 

"  All  the  Legations  (at  Peking)  have  received 
anonymous  letters  from  alleged  revolutionaries  in 
Shanghai,  containing  the  warning  that  an  extensive 
anti-dynastic  uprising  is  imminent.  If  they  do  not 
assist  the  Manchus,  foreigners  will  not  be  harmed  ; 
otherwise,  they  will  be  destroyed  in  a  general 
massacre. 

"  The  missives  were  delivered  mysteriously, 
bearing  obliterated  postmarks. 

"  In  view  of  the  recent  similar  warnings  received 
by  the  Consuls,  uneasiness  has  been  created." 

The  above  appeared  in  the  journal  quoted  on 
June    3rd,    1910.      The    reader,    in    perusing    my 

viii 


AUTHOR'S    NOTE. 

previously  written  remarks  on  the  spirit  of  reform 
and  how  far  it  has  penetrated  into  the  innermost 
comers  of  the  empire,  should  bear  this  paragraph 
in  mind,  for  there  is  more  Boxerism  and  unrest 
in  China  than  we  know  of.  My  account  of  the 
Hankow  Riots  of  January,  191 1,  through  which  I 
myself  went,  will,  with  my  experience  of  rebellions 
in  Yiin-nan,  justify  my  assertion. 

I  should  like  to  thank  all  those  missionaries  who 
entertained  me  as  I  proceeded  through  China, 
especially  Mr.  John  Graham  and  Mr.  C.  A.  Fleisch- 
mann,  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  who  transacted 
a  good  deal  of  business  for  me  and  took  all 
trouble  uncomplainingly.  I  am  also  indebted  to 
Dr.  Clark,  of  Tali-fu,  and  to  the  Revs.  H.  Parsons 
and  S.  Pollard,  for  several  photographs  illustrating 
that  section  of  this  book  dealing  with  the  tribes  of 
Yiin-nan. 

I  wish  to  express  my  acknowledgments  to  several 
well-known  writers  on  far  Eastern  topics,  notably 
to  Dr.  G.  E.  M/Drrison,  of  Peking,  the  Rev.  Sidney  L. 
Hulick,  M.A.,  D.D.,  and  Mr.  H.  B.  Morse,  whose 
works  are  quoted.  Much  information  was  also 
gleaned  from  other  sources. 

My  thanks  are  also  due  to  Mr.  W.  Brayton  Slater 
and  to  my  brother,  Mr.  W.  R.  Dingle,  for  their 
kindness  in  having  negotiated  with  my  publishers  in 
my  absence  in  Inland  China  ;  and  to  the  latter,  for 
unfailing  courtesy  and  patience,  I  am  under 
considerable     obligation.      Across    China    on    Foot 

ix 


AUTHOR'S    NOTE. 

would  have  appeared  in  the  autumn  of  1910  had  the 
printers'  proofs,  which  were  several  times  sent  to 
me  to  different  addresses  in  China,  but  which  dodged 
me  repeatedly,  come  sooner  to  hand. 

EDWIN    J.    DINGLE. 


Hankow,  Hupeh, 
China. 


CONTENTS 


BOOK    I. 

Page 

FROM       THE       STRAITS       TO       SHANGHAI- 
INTRODUCTORY  3 

FIRST  JOURNEY. 

Chapter      I.      From      Shanghai      up      the 

Lower  Yangtze  to  Ichang         ii 

SECOND  JOURNEY— ICHANG  TO  CHUNG-KING 
THROUGH  THE  YANGTZE  GORGES. 
Chapter      II.     The  Ichang  Gorge       .  .         21 

„  III.     The  Yangtze  Rapids  .  .         32 

„  IV.     The       Yeh       T'an       Rapid. 

Arrival  at  Kweifu.  .         37 

THIRD  JOURNEY— CHUNG-KING   TO   SUI-FU 
(VIA  LUCHOW). 
Chapter      V.     Beginning  of  the  Overland 

Journey  .  .  .  .         ^8 

VI.     The  People  of  Szech'wan  .         63 

FOURTH  JOURNEY— SUI-FU  TO  CHAO-T'ONG- 
FU  (VIALAO-WA-T'AN). 
Chapter  VII.     Description      of      Journey 

from  Sui-fu      ...         80 
,,        VIII.     Szech'wan  and  Yun-nan       .         95 

THE  CHAO-T'ONG  REBELLION  OF  igio. 

Chapter    IX.       .  .  .  .  .  ,110 


THE  TRIBES  OF  NORTH-EAST  YUN-NAN,  AND 
MISSION   WORK   AMONG   THEM. 
Chapter      X.       .  .  .  .  .  .126 


CONTENTS. 


FIFTH  JOURNEY— CHAO-T'ONG-FU  TO  TONG- 
CH'UAN-FU. 


Pagf 


Chapter      XI.     Author    Meets    with    Acci- 
dent .  .  .  .157 
„          XII.     Yun-nan's  Chequered  Career. 

Illness  of  Author  .  .       173 


BOOK    II. 

FIRST  JOURNEY— TONG-CH'UAN-FU  TO  THE 
CAPITAL. 

Chapter  XIII.     Departure       for       Burma. 

Discomforts  of  Travel    .       187 
,.         xiv.     yijx-nan-fu,  the  capital    .       20^ 

SECOND    JOURNEY— YUN-NAN-FU    TO   TALI- 
FU  (VIA  CH'U-HSIONG-FU). 

Chapter        XV. — Does     China     Want     the 

Foreigner  ?  .  ,  .       226 

„  XVI.     Lu-feng-hsien.   Mountain- 

ous   Country.     Chinese 
Untruthfulness    .  .       242 

„  XVII.       KWANG-TUNG-HSIEN  TO  ShA- 

chiao-kai        .  .  .       256 

„        XVIII.     Storm  in  the  Mountains. 

At  Hungay    .  .  .270 

„  XIX.     The  Reform  Movement  in 

YiJN-NAN.       Arrival    at 

Tali-fu  .  .  .       29a 

THIRD  JOURNEY— TALI-FU  TO  THE  MEKONG 
VALLEY. 

Chapter        XX.     Hardest     Part     of     the 

Journey.  Hwan-lien-p'u      306 
,,  XXI.     The    Mountains    of    Yun- 

nan.    Shayung.     Opium 
Smoking  ,  .         .       321 


xu 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

FOURTH  JOURNEY— THE  MEKONG  VALLEY 
TO    TENGYUEH. 

Chapter    XXII.     The  River  Mekong  .  .       336 

,,        XXIII.     Through  the  Salwen  Val- 
ley to  Tengyueh   .  ,       353 
,,         XXIV.     The    Li-su   Tribe   of    the 

Salwen  Valley     .  .       364 

FIFTH  JOURNEY— TENGYUEH  ((MOMIEN)  TO 
BHAMO  IN  UPPER  BURxMA. 

Chapter     XXV.     Shans  and  Kachins  .       369 

,,         XXVI,     End     of    Long    Journey. 

Arrival  in  Burma  .       378 


Appendix  A.     Author's  Itinerary      .  .  .  391 

B.     Vagaries  of  Chinese  Weights  and 

Measures  ....  399 

,,  C.     Goitre  in  Western  China     .  .  403 

,,  D.     The    Hankow    Riot    of    January, 

1911  ......  404 

E.  The    Tonkin  -  Yun-nan    Railway, 

and  other  Schemes  .  .  .  409 

F.  Military  Progress  in  China.          .  415 
,,          G.     Peeps  into  Yijn-nan  History         .  420 

H.     The  French  in  Yun-nan         .  .  425 

J.  Buddhism  and  Roman  Catholicism  429 
K.     Copper    Coinage.     Variations    of 

THE  Lowly  "  Cash  "  .         .  431 

,,  L.     Anti-Footbinding      Campaign      in 

Western  China  .  .  .  436 

Index  .         .         .         .         .  .          .         .  439 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Face  page 
Frontispiece. 

Singapore  Harbour    ......  3 

Scene  on  the  Bund  during  the  Hankow  Riots  of 

1911      ........  14 

British  Bluejackets  and  Volunteers  Guarding 
Main    Exit    from    Native    City    during    the 

Hankow  Riots  of  191  i     .....  15 

A  Couple  of  Aristocratic  Trackers.          .          .  20 

Peculiar  Craft  at  Ichang           ....  20 

Port  of  Ichang            .          .          .          .          .          .  21 

The  Author's  House-Boat  (Wu-Pan)  .          .          .  21 

The  Factotum  of  the  Trip          ....  32 

An  Up-River  Customs  Station    ....  32 

A  Treacherous  Spot  in  the  Gorges  ...  33 

Outside  Chung-king    ......  48 

Ploughing  the  Rice-fields  in  Szech'wan  .          .  48 

On  the  Main  Road  in  Szech'wan        ...  49 

Tea  Carriers,  Carrying  Tea  into  Tibet    .          .  49 
Ornamental  Archway  in  the  Gardens  of  the 

Yun-nan  Guild,  at  Sui-fu,  Szech'wan       .          .  74 

Chinese  Method  of  Torture       ....  74 

Temple  at  Sui-fu,  overlooking  the  Yangtze     .  75 

Hill  Scenery  past  Sui-fu            ....  82 

Minor  Idols  in  a  Wayside  Temple    ...  82 

A  Scene  on  the  Heng-chiang  below  T'an-t'eo  .  83 

Off  the  Main  Road  to  Chao-t'ong-fu.          .          .  94 
In  "  Miao-Land  "         .          .          .          .          .          .95 

How  the  Tribes  went  forth  to  Battle       .          .  112 
A  Fair  Sample  of  the  Difficult  Country  the 

Rebels  had  to  Negotiate        .  .  .  .112 

Characteristic    Representatives    of    the    Miao 

Faction  of  Rebelling  Party            .          .          .  113 
The  Meeting  Place  of  the  Rebels,  near  Chao- 
t'ong-fu  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .120 

A  Scene  in  the  Danger  Zone    ....  121 

Ch'in  Miao  Men  of  Kwei-chow  .  .  .128 

Ch'in  Miao  Women  of  Kwei-chow      .          .          .  128 
Miao  Woman  of  Central  Yun-nan     .          .          .129 


xlv 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Face  page 
Shui-hsi  Miao  Women  .  .  .  .  .129 

HuA  Miao  at  Dinner  .....       132 

A  Chinese  Family       .  .  .  .  .  .132 

Typical  Miao  Village  of  North-east  Yun-nan  .       133 
Heh  Miao  Woman        .  .  .  .  .  .140 

Ch'in  Miao  Women  Speeding  the  Parting  Guest       140 
HuA  Miao  at  Chao-t'ong-fu        ....       141 

A  Group  of  Colporteurs    .....       141 

Group  of  Hua  Miao  Christians  at  Shih-men-K'an       152 
Hua  Miao  Boys  on  Holiday  in  United  Methodist 

Mission  House  in  North-East  Yun-nan. 
Itinerating  in  the  Villages 
Coal  Mine  ...... 

KiANGTi  Suspension  Bridge 
Mountain  Scenery  in  North-East  Yun-nan 
The  Author  with  a  Broken  Arm,  and  the  Pony 
that  did  it      .....  . 

Chinese  Home  Life     ..... 

A  North-East  Yun-nan  Tower  of  Refuge 

Cloth  Dyers  in  Western  China 

Outside  the  City  Wall  of  Tong-ch'uan-fu 

Confucian  Temple,  Tong-ch'uan-fu 

The  Wayside  Lodging-house  of  Yun-nan 

The    Author's    Caravan    on    Lai-t'eo-p'o    Hill 

g,3oo  Feet  above  the  Sea 
Two  Days  from  Tong-ch'uan-fu 
Man  and  Beast  of  Yun-nan 
Charcoal  Carriers  on  the  way  to  Yun-nan-fu        200 
Looking     Towards     Hsiao     Long     T'an     (near 

Kongshan)        .......       201 

Scene  in  Unsurveyed  Country  to  the  North- 
west OF  Tong-ch'uan-fu  ....       208 

A  Native  Christian  and  His  Wife  at  Deh-tsao- 
shan,  on  the  Opposite  Side  of  the  Tong-ch'uan- 
fu  Plain  .......       209 

A  City  in  Western  China.  ....       209 

Entrance    to    Military    Training    Ground    at 

Yun-nan-fu      .  .  .  .  .  .  .216 

General  View  of  Yun-nan-fu    ....        216 

New  Police  Force  of  Yun-nan-fu     .  .  .       217 

Scores    of    these    Pagodas    are    met    with    in 

Yun-nan  .......        228 

Fine  Specimen  of  a  Chinese  Pagoda  .  .       228 

A  Village  Gathering  in  Yun-nan 

Entrance  to  a  Government  School  in  Western 

China        ........        229 

Funeral  Scene  in  Western  China     .  .  .       236 

Stopping-place  ^r  Horse  Caravans  .  .       236 

Chinese  God  of  Music         .....       237 

Buddhist  Priest  at  Mummery    ....       237 

XV 


152 
153 
160 
161 

161 

176 
176 
177 
186 
186 
187 
192 

192 

193 

200 


29 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Face 
The   Author    at   Dinner   by   the    Roadside    in 

YUN-NAN  ...... 

A  Celestial  Trio        ..... 

Professional  Chinese  Beggars  . 

Wayside  Tiffin  Place  in  Szech'wan  . 

Wayside  Tiffin  Place  in  Yun-nan 

A  Wayside  Snack  in  Yun-nan   . 

Group  of  Chinese  Feasting  over  the  Graves  of 

their  Ancestors      ..... 
Rearing  Ducks  in  China    .... 
Chinese  Method  of  Fishing 
Mountain  Forest  of  Western  Yun-nan     . 
"  When    Evening    cometh     .     .     ." — Sunset    at 

Tali-fu,  Yun-nan     ..... 
]\Iain  Street  of  Tali-fu      .... 
IMoNTHLY  ^Market  at  Tali-fu 
Undulating  Country  just  beyond  Tali-fu 
The  Shun-pi  beyond  Yang-pi 
Coming  out  of  Hwan-lien-p'u     . 
Typical  Scenery,  showing  how  the  Hills  dro 

TO  the  Valleys  and  Rivers 
The  Mekong  Bridge  ..... 
The  Mountains  opposite  Tali-shao     . 
A  Trio  of  Tibetans  snapped  in  Yun-nan  . 
Yung-ch'ang-fu,   the   Westernmost   Prefecture 

of  the  Chinese  Empire   .... 
Ban-chiao  Bridge,  near  Yung-ch'ang 
Group  of  Yun-nan  Mohammedans 
General  View  showing  Method  of  Irrigation  in 

Szech'wan  and  Yun-nan 
Two  Days  before  Reaching  Yung-ch'ang 
The  Tengyueh  Waterfall 
Li-su  OF  Western  Yun-nan 
Li-su  OF  the  Upper  Salwen 
The  River  Taping  near  Manyuen 
The   Author's   Caravan,    Four   Days   from   the 

Journey's  End         ..... 
The  Last  Market  Town  in  China  before  Entering 

Burma      . 
The   First  Dak-bungalow  met  with  on  coming 

INTO  Burma  from  China  ... 

A  Market  Scene  not  far  from  Hsiao  Singai 
Burmese  and  Kachins  at  the  Annual  Festival 

igio,    of    the    American    Baptist    Mission    in 

Burma      ....... 

Kachins  of  Upper  Burma  .... 

Kachins  of  Upper  Burma  .... 

Map  of  Author's  Itinerary        .        «, 


page 


XVI 


BOOK    I 


:i: 


go 


Across   Clima   on   Foot. 


FROM    THE    STRAITS    TO    SHANGHAI. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

The  scheme.  Why  I  am  walking  across  Interior  China. 
Leaving  Singapore.  Ignorance  of  life  and  travel  in  China, 
The  "  China  for  the  Chinese  "  cry.  The  New  China  and 
the  determination  of  the  Government.  The  voice  of  the  people. 
The  province  of  Yiin-nan  and  the  forward  movement.  A 
prophecy.  Impressions  of  Saigon.  Comparison  of  French 
and  English  methods.  At  Hong-Kong.  Cold  sail  up  the 
Whang-poo.  Disembarkation.  Foreign  population  of 
Shanghai.      Congestion  in  the  city.     Wonderful  Shanghai. 

Through  China  from  end  to  end.     From  Shanghai, 
1,500    miles    by    river    and    1,600    miles    walking 
overland,    from   the   greatest   port   of   the   Chinese 
Empire  to  the  frontier  of  British  Burma. 
That  is  my  scheme.* 


I  am  a  journalist,  one  of  the  army  of  the  hard- 
worked  who  go  down  early  to  the  Valley.  I 
state  this  because  I  would  that  the  truth  be  told ; 
for  whilst  engaged  in  the  project  with  which  this 
book  has  mainly  to  deal  I  was  subjected  to  pecuhar 
designations,  such  as  "  explorer  "  and  other  news- 
paper  extravagances,  and    it    were    well,  perhaps, 

*  See  Appendix  A. 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

I  for  my  reader  to  know  once  for  all  that  the  writer 

'  is    merely    a    newspaper    man,    at    the    time    on 

',  holiday. 

The  rather  extreme  idea  of  walking  across  this 
Flowery  Land  came  to  me  early  in  the  year  1909, 
although  for  many  years  I  had  cherished  the  hope 

[of  seeing  Interior  China  ere  modernity  had  robbed 
her  and  her  wonderful  people  of  their  isolation  and 
antediluvianism,     and    ever    since    childhood    my 

linterest  in  China  has  always  been  considerable. 
A  little  prior  to  the  Chinese  New  Year,  a  friend  of  mine 
dined  with  me  at  my  rooms  in  Singapore,  in  the 
Straits  Settlements,  and  the  conversation  about 
China  resulted  in  our  decision  then  and  there 
to  travel  through  the  Empire  on  hoHday.  He, 
because  at  the  time  he  had  little  else  to  do ; 
the  author,  because  he  thought  that  a  few  months' 
travel  in  mid-China  would,  from  a  joumaKstic 
standpoint,  be  passed  profitably,  the  intention  being 
J  to  arrive  home  in  dear  old  England  late  in  the 
summer  of  the  same  year. 

We  agreed  to  cross  China  on  foot,  and  accordingly 
^  on  February  22,  1909,  just  as  the  sun  was  sinking 
over  the  beautiful  harbour  of  Singapore — that  most 
valuable  strategic  Gate  of  the  Far  East,  where  Crown 
Colonial  administration,  however,  is  allowed  by  a 
lethargic  British  Government  to  become  more  and 
more  bungled  every  year — we  settled  down  on 
board  the  French  mail  steamer  Nera,  bound  for 
Shanghai.  My  friends,  good  fellows,  in  reluctantly 
speeding  me  on  my  way,  prophesied  that  this 
would  prove  to  be  my  last  long  voyage  to  a  last 
long  rest,  that  the  Chinese  would  never  allow 
me  to  come  out  of  China  alive.  Such  is  the 
ignorance    of    the    average    man    concerning    the 


INTRODUCTORY. 

conditions    of    life    and    travel    in    the    interior    of 
this  Land  of  Night. 


Here,  then,  was  I  on  my  way  to  that  land  towards 
which  all  the  world  was  straining  its  eyes,  whose 
nation,  above  all  nations  of  the  earth,  was  altering 
for  better  things,  and  coming  out  of  its  historic  shell. 
"  Reform,  reform,  reform,"  was  the  echo,  and  I 
myself  was  on  the  way  to  hear  it.  ' 

At  the  time  I  started  for  China  the  cry  of  "  China 
for  the  Chinese  "  was  heard  in  all  countries,  among 
all  peoples.  Statesmen  were  startled  by  it,  editors 
wrote  the  phrase  to  death,  magazines  were  filled  with 
copy — good,  bad  and  indifferent — mostly  written, 
be  it  said,  by  men  whose  knowledge  of  the  question 
was  by  no  means  complete  :  editorial  opinion,  and 
contradiction  of  that  opinion,  were  printed  side  by 
side  in  journals  having  a  good  name.  To  one  who 
endeavoured  actually  to  understand  what  was  being 
done,  and  whither  these  broad  tendencies  and  strange 
cravings  of  the  Chinese  were  leading  a  people  who 
formerly  were  so  indifferent  to  progress,  it  seemed 
essential  that  he  should  go  to  the  country,  and  there 
on  the  spot  make  a  study  of  the  problem. 

Was  the  reform,  if  genuine  at  all,  universal  in 
China  ?     Did  it  reach  to  the  ends  of  the  Empire  ? 

That  a  New  China  had  come  into  being,  and  was 
working  astounding  results  in  the  enlightened 
provinces  above  the  Yangtze  and  those  connected 
with  the  capital  by  railway,  was  common  knowledge  ; 
but  one  found  it  hard  to  believe  that  the  west  and 
the  south-west  of  the  empire  were  moved  by  the 
same  spirit  of  Europeanism,  and  it  will  be  seen  that 
China  in  the  west  moves,  if  at  all,  but  at  a  snail's 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

pace  :  the  second  part  of  this  volume  deals  with  that 
portion  of  the  subject. 

And  it  may  be  that  the  New  China,  as  we  know  it 
in  the  more  forward  spheres  of  activity,  will  only 
take  her  proper  place  in  the  family  of  nations  after 
fresh  upheavals.*  Rivers  of  blood  may  yet  have  to 
flow  as  a  sickening  libation  to  the  gods  who  have 
guided  the  nation  for  forty  centuries  before  she  will 
be  able  to  attain  her  ambition  of  standing  line  to  line 
with  the  other  powers  of  the  eastern  and  western 
worlds.  But  it  seems  that  no  matter  what  the  cost, 
no  matter  what  she  may  have  to  suffer  financially 
and  nationally,  no  matter  how  great  the  obstinacy 
of  the  people  towards  the  reform  movement,  the 
change  is  coming,  has  already  come  with  alarming 
rapidity,  and  has  come  to  stay.  China  is  changing — 
let  so  much  be  granted  ;  and  although  the  movement 
may  be  hampered  by  a  thousand  general  difficulties, 
presented  by  the  ancient  civilisation  of  a  people 
whose  customs  and  manners  and  ideas  have  stood 
the  test  of  time  since  the  days  contemporary  with 
those  of  Solomon,  and  at  one  time  bade  fair  to  test 
eternity,  the  Government  cry  of  "  China  for  the^ 
Chinese  "  is  going  to  win.  Chinese  civilisation  has 
for  ages  been  allowed  to  get  into  a  very  bad  state  of 
repair,  and  official  corruption  and  deceit  have 
prevented  the  Government  from  making  an  effectual 
move  towards  present-day  aims  ;  but  that  she  is 
now  making  an  honest  endeavour  to  rectify  her  faults 
in  the  face  of  tremendous  odds  must,  so  it  appears  to 
the  writer,  be  apparent  to  all  beholders.  That  is  the 
Government  view-point.    It  is  important  to  note  this.  [ 

In  China,  however,   the  Government  is  not  the 

*  The  reader's  attention   is   drawn   at   this    juncture   to  an 
account  in  Appendix  D  of  the   191 1   riots  at  Hankow. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

people.  It  never  has  been.  It  is  not  to  be  expected 
that  great  pohtical  and  social  reforms  can  be  intro- 
duced into  such  an  enormous  country  as  China, 
and  among  her  four  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of 
people,  merely  by  the  issue  of  a  few  imperial  edicts. 
The  masses  have  to  be  convinced  that  any  given  thing 
is  for  the  public  good  before  they  accept,  despite  the 
proclamations,  and  in  thus  convincing  her  own  people 
China  has  yet  to  go  through  the  fire  of  a  terrible 
ordeal.  Especially  will  this  be  seen  in  the  second 
part  of  this  volume,  where  in  Yiin-nan  there  are  huge 
areas  absolutely  untouched  by  the  forward  movement, 
and  where  the  people  are  living  the  same  hfe  of 
disease,  distress  and  dirt,  of  official,  social,  and  moral 
degradation  as  they  Uved  when  the  Westerner  re- 
mained still  in  the  primeval  forest  stage.  But  despite 
the  scepticism  and  the  cynicism  of  certain  writers, 
whose  pessimism  is  due  to  a  lack  of  foresight, 
and  despite  the  fact  that  she  is  being  constantly 
accused  of  having  in  the  past  ignominiously  failed 
at  the  crucial  moment  in  endeavours  towards 
minor  reforms,  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe] 
that  in  China  we  shall  see  arising  a  Government 
whose  power  wiU  be  paramount  in  the  East,  and 
upon  the  integrity  of  whose  people  will  depend  the 
peace  of  Europe.  It  is  much  to  say.  We  shall  not 
see  it,  but  our  children  will.  The  Government  is 
going  to  conquer  the  people.  She  has  done  so 
already  in  certain  provinces,  and  in  a  few  years  the 
reform — deep  and  real,  not  the  make-believe  we  see 
in  many  parts  of  the  Empire  to-day — will  be: 
universal.  -'=^ 

♦  iK  )f(  9): 

Between  Singapore  and  Shanghai  the  opportunity 
occurred  of  calling  at  Saigon  and  Hong-Kong,  two 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

cities  offering  instructive  contrasts  of  French  and 
British  administration  in  the  Far  East. 

Saigon  is  not  troubled  much  by  the  Britisher. 
The  nationalty-exacting  Frenchman  has  brought  it 
to  represent  fairly  his  loved  Paris  in  the  East.  The 
approach  to  the  city,  through  the  dirty  brown  mud 
of  the  treacherous  Mekong,  which  is  swept  down 
vigorously  to  the  China  Sea  between  stretches  of 
monotonous  mangrove,  with  no  habitation  of  man 
anywhere  visible,  is  distinctly  unpicturesque  ;  but 
Saigon  itself,  apart  from  the  exorbitance  of  the 
charges  (especially  so  to  the  spendthrift  Englishman), 
is  worth  the  dreary  journey  of  numberless  twists  and 
quick  turns  up-river,  annoying  to  the  most  patient 
pilot. 

In  the  daytime,  Saigon  is  as  hot  as  that  last 
bourne  whence  all  evil-doers  wander — Englishmen 
and  dogs  alone  are  seen  abroad  between  nine  and 
one.  But  in  the  soothing  cool  of  the  soft  tropical 
evening,  gay-lit  boulevards,  a  magnificent  State- 
subsidised  opera-house,  alfresco  cafes  where  dawdle 
the  domino-playing  absinth  drinkers,  the  fierce- 
moustached  gendarmes,  and  innumerable  features 
typically  and  picturesquely  French,  induced  me  easily 
to  believe  myself  back  in  the  bewildering  whirl  of 
the  Boulevard  des  Capucines  or  des  Italiennes. 
Whether  the  narrow  streets  of  the  native  city  are 
clean  or  dirty,  whether  garbage  heaps  lie  festering 
in  the  broihng  sun,  sending  their  disgusting  effluvia 
out  to  annoy  the  sense  of  smell  at  every  turn,  the 
municipality  cares  not  a  httle  bit.  Indifference 
to  the  well-being  of  the  native  pervades  it ; 
there  is  present  no  progressive  prosperity.  Every 
second  person  I  met  was,  or  seemed  to  be,  a 
Government  official.     He  was  dressed  in  immaculate 

8 


INTRODUCTORY. 

white  clothes  of  the  typical  ugly  French  cut,  trimmed 
elaborately  with  an  ad  libitum  decoration  of  gold 
braid  and  brass  buttons.  All  was  so  different  to 
Singapore  and  Hong-Kong,  and  one  did  not  feel,  in 
surroundings  which  made  strongly  for  the  laissez- 
faire  of  the  Frenchman  in  the  East,  ashamed  of  the 
iact  that  he  was  an  Englishman. 

Three  days  north  lies  Hong-Kong,  an  all-important 
link  in  the  armed  chain  of  Britain's  empire  east  of 
Suez,  bone  of  the  bone  and  flesh  of  the  flesh  of  Great 
Britain  beyond  the  seas.  The  history  of  this  island, 
ceded  to  us  in  1842  by  the  Treaty  of  Nanking,  is 
known  to  everyone  in  Europe,  or  should  be. 

Four  and  a  half  days  more,  and  we  anchored  at 
Woo-sung ;  and  a  few  hours  later,  after  a  terribly  cold 
Tun  up  the  river  in  the  teeth  of  a  terrific  wind,  we 
arrived  at  Shanghai  (31°  14'  N.,  12°  29'  E.). 

The  average  man  in  Europe  and  America  does  j 
not  know  that  this  great  metropoHs  of  the  Far  East 
is  far  removed  from  salt  water,  and  that  it  is  the 
first  point  on  entering  the  Yangtze-kiang  at  which 
a  port  could  be  established.  It  is  twelve  miles  up 
the  Whang-poo.  Junks  whirled  past  with  curious 
tattered  brown  sails,  resembling  dilapidated  verandah 
tlinds,  merchantmen  were  there  flying  the  flags  of 
the  nations  of  the  world,  all  churning  up  the  yellow 
stream  as  they  hurried  to  catch  the  flood-tide  at  the 
bar.  Then  came  the  din  of  disembarkation.  Enthu- 
siastic hotel-runners,  ill-worked  cooHes,  rickshaw  men, 
professional  Chinese  beggars,  and  the  inevitable 
hangers-on  of  a  large  eastern  city  crowded  around 
me  to  turn  an  honest  or  a  dishonest  penny.  Some 
rude,  rough-hewn  lout,  covered  with  grease  and  coal- 
dush,  pushed  bang  against  me  and  hurled  me  without 
ceremony  from  his  path.     My  baggage,  meantime. 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

was  thrown  on  to  a  two-wheeled  van,  drawn  by  four 
of  those  poor  human  beasts  of  burden — how  horrible 
to  have  been  bom  a  Chinese  coolie  ! — and  I  was 
whirled  away  to  my  hotel  for  tucker.  The  French 
mail  had  given  us  coffee  and  rolls  at  six,  but  the 
excitement  of  landing  at  a  foreign  port  does  not 
usually  produce  the  net  amount  of  satisfaction  to  or 
make  for  the  sustenance  of  the  inner  man  of  the 
phlegmatic  EngUshman,  as  with  the  wilder-natured 
Frenchman.     Therefore  were  our  spirits  ruffled. 

However,  we  fed  later. 

Subsequently  to  this  we  agreed  not  to  be  drawn 
to  the  clubs  or  mix  in  the  social  life  of  Shanghai,  but 
to  consider  ourselves  as  two  beings  entirely  apart 
from  the  sixteen  thousand  and  twenty-three 
Britishers,  Americans,  Frenchmen,  Germans,  Rus- 
sians, Danes,  Portuguese,  and  other  sundry  inter- 
nationals at  that  moment  at  Shanghai.  They  Hved 
there  :   we  were  soon  to  leave. 

The  city  was  suffering  from  the  abnormal  conges- 
tion common  to  the  Orient,  with  a  big  dash  of  the 
West.  Trams,  motors,  rickshaws,  the  peculiar  Chinese 
wheelbarrow,  horrid  pubhc  shaky  landaus  in  minia- 
ture, conveyances  of  all  kinds,  and  the  swarming 
masses  of  coolie  humanity  carrying  or  hauHng  mer- 
chandise amid  incessant  jabbering,  yelling,  and 
vociferating,  made  intense  bewilderment  before 
breakfast. 

Wonderful  Shanghai  1 


10 


FIRST    JOURNEY. 

FROM  SHANGHAI  UP  THE  LOWER  YANGTZE 
TO    ICHANG. 

CHAPTER    I. 

To  Ichang,  an  everyday  trip.  Start  from  Shanghai,  and  the 
city's  appearance.  At  Hankow.  Meaning  of  the  name. 
Trio  of  strategic  and  military  points  of  the  empire.  Han- 
yang and  Wu-ch'ang.  Commercial  and  industrial  future 
of  Hankow.  Getting  our  passports.  Britishers  in  the 
city.  The  commercial  Chinaman.  The  native  city  :  some 
impressions.  Clothing  of  the  people.  Cotton  and  wool. 
Indifference  to  comfort.  Surprise  at  our  daring  project. 
At  Ichang.  British  gunboat  and  early  morning  routine. 
Oxir  vain  quest  for  aid.  Laying  in  stores  and  com- 
missioning our  boat.  Ceremonies  at  starting  gorges  trip. 
Raising  anchor,  and  our  departure. 

Let  no  one  who  has  been  so  far  as  Ichang,  a  thousand 
miles  from  the  sea,  imagine  that  he  has  been  into  the 
interior  of  China. 

It  is  quite  an  everyday  trip.  Modern  steamers, 
with  every  modem  convenience  and  luxury,  pro- 
bably as  comfortable  as  any  river  steamers  in  the 
world,  ply  regularly  in  their  two  services  between 
Shanghai  and  this  port,  at  the  foot  of  the  Gorges. 

The  Whang-poo  looked  like  the  Thames,  and  the 
Shanghai  Bund  like  the  Embankment,  when  I  em- 
barked on  board  a  Jap  boat  en  route  for  Hankow, 
and  thence  to  Ichang  by  a  smaller  steamer,  on  a 
dark,    bitterly    cold    Saturday   night,    March    6th, 

II  '    ■ 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

1909.  I  was  to  travel  fifteen  hundred  miles 
pup  that  greatest  artery  of  China.  The  Yangtze 
'  surpasses  in  importance  to  the  Celestial  Empire 
what  the  Mississippi  is  to  America,  and  yet 
even  in  China  there  are  thousands  of  resident 
foreigners  who  know  no  more  about  this  great  river 
than  the  average  Smithfield  butcher.  Ask  ten  men  in 
Fleet  Street  or  in  Wall  Street  where  Ichang  is,  and  nine 
will  be  unable  to  tell  you.  Yet  it  is  a  port  of  great 
(jimportance,  when  one  considers  that  the  handling 
of  China's  vast  river-borne  trade  has  been  opened 
to  foreign  trade  and  residence  since  the  Chefoo 
Convention  was  signed  in  1876,  is  a  city  of  forty 
thousand  souls,  and  has  a  gross  total  of  imports  of 
nearly  forty  millions  of  taels. 
r  Of  Hankow,  however,  where  we  landed  after  a  four 
days'  run,  and  had  to  wait  five  days  before  the 
shallower-bottomed  steamer  for  the  higher  journey 
had  come  in,  owing  to  the  low  water,  more  is  kno\vn. 
The  city  is  made  up  of  foreign  concessions,  as  in 
other  treaty  ports,  but  away  in  the  native  quarter 
there  is  the  real  China,  with  her  selfish  rush,  her 
squalidness  and  filth  among  the  teeming  thousands. 
There  dwell  together,  literally  side  by  side,  but  yet 
eternally  apart,  all  the  conflicting  elements  of  East 
and  West  which  go  to  make  up  a  city  in  the  Far 
East,  and  particularly  on  the  China  coast. 

Hankow  means  literally  Han  Mouth,  being  situated 
at  the  juncture  of  the  Han  River  and  the  Yangtze. 
Across  the  way,  as  I  write,  I  can  see  Han-yang,  with 
its  iron  works  belching  out  black  curls  of  smoke, 
where  the  arsenal  turns  out  one  hundred  Mauser 
rifles  daily.  (This  is  but  a  fraction  of  the  total 
work  done.)  It  is,  I  believe,  the  only  steel-rolling 
mill  in  China.     Long  before  the  foreigner  set  foot 

12 


SHANGHAI    TO    ICHANG. 

so  far  up  the  Yangtze,  Hankow  was  a  city  of  great 
importance — the  Chinese  used  to  call  it  the  centre  of 
the  world.  Ten  years  ago  I  should  have  been  thirty 
days'  hard  travel  from  Peking ;  at  the  present 
moment  I  might  pack  my  bag  and  be  in  Peking^ 
within  thirty-six  hours.  Hankow,  with  Tientsin  and 
Nanking,  makes  up  the  trio  of  principal  strategic 
points  of  the  Empire,  the  trio  of  centres  also  of 
greatest  mihtar}^  activity.  On  the  opposite  bank 
of  the  river  I  can  see  Wu-ch'ang,  the  provincial 
capital,  the  seat  of  the  Viceroyalty  of  two  of  the 
most  turbulent  and  important  provinces  of  the 
whole  eighteen. 

Hankow,  Han-yang,  and  Wu-ch'ang  have  a 
population  of  something  Hke  two  million  people, 
and  it  is  safe  to  prophesy  that  no  other  centre  in  the 
whole  world  has  a  greater  commercial  and  industrial 
future  than  Hankow.* 

Here  we  registered  as  British  subjects,  and  secured 
our  Chinese  passports,  resembling  naval  ensigns  more 
than  anything  else,  for  the  four  provinces  of  Hu-peh, 
Kwei-chow,  Szech'wan,  and  Yiin-nan.  The  Consul- 
General  and  his  assistants  helped  us  in  many  ways, 
disillusioning  us  of  the  many  distorted  reports  which 
have  got  into  print  regarding  the  indifference  shown 
to  British  travellers  by  their  own  consuls  at  these 
ports.  We  found  the  brethren  at  the  Hankow  Club 
a  happy  band,  with  every  luxury  around  them  for 
which  hand  and  heart  could  wish ;  so  that  it  were 
perhaps  ludicrous  to  look  upon  them  as  exiles,  men 
out  in  the  outposts  of  Britain  beyond  the  seas, 
building  up  the  trade  of  the  Empire.  Yet  such  they 
undoubtedly  were,  and  most  of  them  having  a  much 
better  time  than  they  would  at  home.     There  is  not 

*  See  Appendix  D. 
13 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the  roughing  required  in  Hankow  which  is  necessary 
in  other  parts  of  the  empire,  as  in  British  East 
Africa  and  in  the  jungles  of  the  Federated  Malay 
States,  for  instance.  Building  the  Empire  where 
there  is  an  abundance  of  the  straw  wherewith  to 
make  the  bricks,  is  a  matter  of  no  difficulty. 

And  then  the  Chinaman  is  a  good  man  to  manage  in 
trade,  and  in  business  dealings  his  word  is  his  bond, 
generally  speaking,  although  we  do  not  forget  that 
not  long  ago  a  branch  in  North  China  of  the  Hong- 
kong and  Shanghai  Bank  was  swindled  seriously  by 
a  shroff  who  had  done  honest  duty  for  a  great 
number  of  years.  It  cannot,  however,  be  said  that 
it  is  a  common  thing  among  the  commercial  class  of 
Chinese.  My  personal  experience  has  been  that  John 
does  what  he  says  he  will  do,  and  for  years  he  will 
go  on  doing  that  one  thing ;  but  it  should  not  surprise 
you  if  one  fine  morning,  with  the  infinite  sagacity  of 
his  race,  he  ceases  to  do  this  when  you  are  least 
expecting  it — and  he  "  does  "  3^ou.  Keep  an  eye  on 
him,  and  the  Chinaman  to  be  found  in  Hankow 
having  dealings  with  Europeans  in  business  is  as 
good  as  the  best  of  men. 

We  wended  our  way  one  morning  into  the  native  city, 
and  agreed  that  few  inconveniences  of  the  Celestial 
Empire  make  upon  the  western  mind  a  more  speedy 
impression  than  the  entire  absence  of  sanitation. 
In  Hankow  we  were  in  mental  suspense  as  to  which 
was  the  filthier  native  city — Hankow  or  Shanghai. 
But  we  are  probably  like  other  travellers,  who 
find  each  city  visited  worse  than  the  last.  Should 
there  arise  in  their  midst  a  man  anxious  to  confer  an 
everlasting  blessing  upon  his  fellow  Chinamen,  no 
better  work  could  he  do  than  to  institute  a  system 
approaching  what  to  our  Western  mind  is  sanitation. 

H 


?>   X 


(^ 


tx: 


be 


O 


^ :: 

o 


SHANGHAI    TO    ICHANG. 

We  arrived,  of  course,  in  the  winter,  and,  having  seen 
it  at  a  time  when  the  sun  could  do  but  little  in  in- 
creasing the  stenches,  we  leave  it  to  the  imagination 
as  to  what  it  would  be  in  the  summer,  in  a  city  which 
for  heat  is  not  excelled  by  Aden.*  During  the  summer 
of  1908  no  less  than  twenty-eight  foreigners  succumbed  , 
to  cholera,  and  the  native  deaths  were  numberless.      j 

The  people  were  suffering  very  much  from  the  ] 
cold,  and  it  struck  me  as  one  of  the  unaccountable  1 
phenomena  of  their  civilisation  that  in  their  in- 
genuity in  using  the  gifts  of  Nature  they  have  never 
learned  to  weave  wool,  and  to  employ  it  in  clothing — 
that  is,  in  a  general  sense.  There  are  a  few  exceptions 
in  the  Empire.  The  nation  is  almost  entirely  de- 
pendent upon  cotton  for  clothing,  which  in  winter 
is  padded  with  a  cheap  wadding  to  an  abnormal 
thickness.  The  common  people  wear  no  under- 
clothing whatever.  When  they  sleep  they  strip  to  the 
skin,  and  wrap  themselves  bodily  in  a  single  wadded 
blanket,  sleeping  the  sleep  of  the  tired  people  their 
excessive  labour  makes  them.  And,  although  their 
clothes  might  be  the  height  of  discomfort,  they  show 
their  famous  indifference  to  comfort  by  never  com- 
plaining. These  burdensome  clothes  hang  around 
them  like  so  many  bags,  with  wide  gaps  here  and 
there  where  the  wind  whistles  in  to  the  flesh.  It  is  a 
national  characteristic  that  they  are  immune  to 
personal  inconveniences,  a  philosophy  which  I 
found  to  be  universal,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.  ; 

Everybody  we  met,  from  the  British  Consul- 
General  downward,  was  surprised  to  know  that  we 

*  This  was  written  at  the  time  I  was  in  Hankow.  When 
I  revised  my  copy,  after  I  had  spent  a  year  and  a  half  rubbing 
along  with  the  natives  in  the  interior,  I  could  not  suppress  a  smile 
at  my  impressions  of  a  great  city  like  Hankow.  Since  then  I  have 
seen  more  native  life,  and — more  native  dirt  ! — E.  J.  D. 

15 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

had  no  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  language,  and 
seemed  to  look  lightly  upon  our  chances  of  ever 
getting  through. 

It  was  true.  Neither  my  companion  nor  myself 
knew  three  words  of  the  language,  but  went  forward 
simply  believing  in  the  good  faith  of  the  Chinese 
people,  with  our  passports  alone  to  protect  us.  That 
we  should  encounter  difficulties  innumerable,  that  we 
should  be  called  upon  to  put  up  with  the  greatest 
hardships  of  life,  when  viewed  from  the  standard  to 
which  one  had  been  accustomed,  and  that  we  should 
be  put  to  great  physical  endurance,  we  could  not 
[  doubt.  But  we  believed  in  the  Chinese,  and  believed 
that  should  any  evil  befall  us  it  would  be  the  out- 
come of  our  own  lack  of  forbearance,  or  of  our  own 
direct  seeking.  We  knew  that  to  the  Chinese  we 
should  at  once  be  "  foreign  devils  "  and  "  barba- 
rians," that  if  not  holding  us  actually  in  contempt, 
they  would  feel  some  condescension  in  dealing  and 
mixing  with  us ;  but  I  was  personally  of  the  opinion 
that  it  was  easier  for  us  to  walk  through  China  than 
it  would  be  for  two  Chinese,  dressed  as  Chinese,  to 
walk  through  Great  Britain  or  America.  What 
would  the  canny  Highlander  or  the  rural  EngHsh 
rustic  think  of  two  pig-tailed  men  tramping  through 
their  countryside  ? 

We  anchored  at  Ichang  at  7.30  a.m.  on  March  19th. 
I  fell  up  against  a  boatman  who  offered  to  take  us 
ashore.  An  ugher  fellow  I  had  never  seen  in  the 
East.  He  had  some  affection  of  the  nose,  rendering 
it  Hke  a  burnt  india-rubber  tube,  and  he  had  tooth- 
less jaws.  The  morning  sunshine  soon  dried  the 
decks  of  the  gunboat  Kinsha  (then  stationed  in  the 
river  for  the  defence  of  the  port)    which   EngHsh 

16 


SHANGHAI    TO    ICHANG. 

jack-tars  were  swabbing  in  a  half-hearted  sort  of  way, 
and  all  looked  rosy  enough.*  But  for  the  author, 
who  with  his  companion  was  a  Uteral  "  babe  in  the 
wood,"  the  day  was  most  eventful  and  trying  to 
one's  personal  serenity.  We  had  asked  questions 
of  all  and  sundry  respecting  our  proposed  tramp 
and  the  way  we  should  get  to  work  in  making 
preparations.  Each  individual  person  seemed 
vigorously  to  do  his  best  to  induce  us  to  turn  back 
and  follow  callings  of  respectable  members  of  society. 
From  Shanghai  upwards  we  might  have  believed 
ourselves  watched  by  a  secret  society,  which  had 
for  its  motto,  "  Return,  oh,  wanderer,  return  !  " 
Hardly  a  person  knew  aught  of  the  actual  conditions 
of  the  interior  of  the  country  in  which  he  lived  and 
laboured,  and  everyone  tried  to  dissuade  us  from 
our  project. 

Coming  ashore  in  good  spirits,  we  called  at  the 
Consulate,  at  the  back  of  the  city  graveyard,  and  were 
smoking  his  cigars  and  giving  his  boy  an  examina- 
tion in  elementary  Enghsh,  when  the  Consul  came 
down.  It  was  not  possible,  however,  for  us  to  get 
much  more  information  than  we  had  read  up,  and 
the  Consul  suggested  that  the  most  likely  person  to 
be  of  use  to  us  would  be  the  missionary  at  the  China 
Inland  Mission,  Thither  we  repaired,  following  a 
sturdy  employe  of  Britain,  but  we  found  that  the 
C.  I.  M.  representative  was  not  to  be  found — despite 
our  repairing.  So  off  we  trotted  to  the  chief  business 
house  of  the  town,  at  the  entrance  to  which  we  were 
met  by  a  Chinese,  who  bowed  gravely,  asked  whether 
we  had  eaten  our  rice,  and  told  us,  quietly  but 
pointedly,  that  our  passing  up  the  rough  stone  steps 

*  The  Ktnsha  was  the  first  British  gunboat  on  the  Upper 
Yangtze. 

17 


ACROSS    CHINA    OX    FOOT. 

would  be  of  no  use,  as  the  manager  was  out.  A  few 
minutes  later  I  stood  reading  the  inscription  on  the 
gravestone  near  the  church,  whilst  my  brave  com- 
panion, The  Other  Man,  endeavoured  fruitlessly  to 
pacify  a  fierce  dog  in  the  doorway  of  the  Scottish 
Society's  missionary  premises — but  that  missionary, 
too,  was  out  ! 

What,  then,  was  the  little  game  ?  Were  all  the 
foreigners  resident  in  this  town  dodging  us,  afraid 
of  us — or  what  ? 

"The  latter,  the  Withering  idiots!"  yelled  The 
Other  Man,  He  was  infuriated.  "  Two  Enghshmen 
with  Enghsh  tongues  in  their  heads,  and  unable  to 
direct  their  own.  movements.  Preposterous  !  "  And 
then,  making  an  observation  which  I  will  not  print, 
he  suggested  mildly  that  we  might  fix  up  all  matters 
ourselves. 

Within  an  hour  an  English-speaking  "  one  piecee 
cook  "  had  secured  the  berth,  which  carried  a  salary 
of  twenty-five  dollars  per  month,  we  were  well  on 
the  way  with  the  engaging  of  our  boat  for  the  Gorges 
trip,  and  one  by  one  our  troubles  vanished. 

Laying  in  stores,  however,  was  not  the  Hghtest 
of  sundry  perplexities.  Curry  and  rice  had  been 
suggested  as  the  staple  diet  for  the  river  journey; 
and  we  ordered,  with  no  thought  to  the  contrary,  a 
picul  of  best  rice,  various  brands  of  curries,  which 
were  raked  from  behind  the  shelves  of  a  dingy  little 
store  in  a  back  street,  and  presented  to  us  at  alarming 
prices — enough  to  last  a  regiment  of  soldiers  for 
pretty  well  the  number  of  days  we  two  were  to 
travel ;  and,  for  luxuries,  we  laid  in  a  few  tinned 
meats.  All  was  practically  settled,  when  The  Other 
Man,  setthng  his  eyes  dead  upon  me,  yelled — 
"  Dingle,  you  've  forgotten  the  milk !  "     And  then, 

i8 


SHANGHAI    TO    ICHANG. 

after  a  moment,  "  Oh,  well,  we  can  surely  do  without 
milk;  it's  no  use  coming  on  a  journey  like  this 
unless  one  can  rough  it  a  bit."  And  he  ended  up 
with  a  rude  reference  to  the  disgusting  sticky  con- 
densed milk  tins,  and  we  wandered  on. 

Suddenly  he  stopped,  did  The  Other  Man.  He 
looked  at  a  small  stone  on  the  pavement  for  a  long 
time,  eventually  cruelly  blurting  out,  directly  at  me, 
as  if  it  were  all  my  misdoing  :  "  The  sugar,  the 
sugar!  We  must  have  sugar,  man,"  I  said  nothing, 
with  the  exception  of  a  slight  remark  that  we  might 
do  without  sugar,  as  we  were  to  do  without  milk. 
Then  there  was  a  pause.  Then,  raising  his  stick  in 
the  air.  The  Other  Man  perorated  :  "  Now,  I  have  no 
wish  to  quarrel  "  (and  he  put  his  nose  nearer  to 
mine),  "  you  know  that,  of  course.  But  to  thmk  we 
can  do  without  sugar  is  quite  unreasonable,  and  I 
had  no  idea  you  were  such  a  cantankerous  man 
We  have  sugar,  or — I  go  back." 

We  had  sugar.  It  was  brought  on  board  in 
upwards  of  twenty  small  packets  of  that  detestable 
thin  Chinese  paper,  and  The  Other  Man,  with  com- 
mendable meekness,  withdrew  several  pleasantries 
he  had  unwittingly  dropped  anent  deficiencies  in  my 
upbringing.  Fifty  pounds  of  this  sugar  were  ordered, 
and  sugar — that  dirty,  brown  sticky  stuff — got  into 
everything  on  board — my  fingers  are  sticky  even  as 
I  write — and  no  less  than  exactly  one-half  went  down 
to  the  bottom  of  the  Yangtze.  Travellers  by  house- 
boat on  the  Upper  Yangtze  should  have  some 
knowledge  of  commissariat. 


Getting  away  was  a  tedious  business. 

Later,  the  fellows  pressed  us  to  spend  a  good  deal 

19 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

of  time  in  the  small,  dingy,  iU-lighted  apartment 
they  are  pleased  to  call  their  club  ;  and  the  skipper 
had  to  re-commission  his  boat,  get  in  provisions  for 
the  voyage,  engage  his  crew,  pay  off  debts,  and 
attend  to  a  thousand  and  one  minute  details — all  to 
be  done  after  the  contract  to  carry  the  madcap 
passengers  had  been  signed  and  sealed,  added  to  the 
more  practical  triviality  of  three-fourths  of  the  charge 
being  paid  down.  And  then  our  captain,  to  add  to 
the  dilemma,  vociferously  yelled  to  us,  in  some 
unknown  jargon  which  got  on  our  nerves  terribly, 
that  he  was  waiting  for  a  "  lucky  "  day  to  raise 
anchor. 

However,  we  did,  as  the  reader  will  be  able  to 
imagine,  eventually  get  away,  after  having  watched 
the  sacrifice  of  a  cock  to  the  God  of  the  River,  with 
the  invocation  that  we  might  be  kept  in  safety,  amid 
the  firing  of  countless  deafening  crackers.  Poling 
and  rowing  through  a  maze  of  junks,  our  Httle  float- 
ing caravan,  with  the  two  magnates  on  board,  and 
their  picul  of  rice,  their  curry  and  their  sugar,  and 
slenderest  outfits,  bowled  along  under  plain  sail,  the 
fore-deck  packed  with  a  motley  team  of  somewhat 
dirty  and  ill-fed  trackers,  who  whistled  and  halloed 
the  peculiar  hallo  of  the  Upper  Yangtze  for  more 
■wind. 

The  little  township  of  Ichang  was  soon  left  astern, 
and  we  entered  speedily  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
into  a  new  world,  a  world  untrammelled  by  con- 
ventionalism and  the  spirit  of  the  West. 


20 


^ 


A   couple  of  aristocratic  trackers. 


*t4M 


I  ccmiar  (run    m    it  in'.iii 


Port  of  I  cluing. 
Showing  tlie  Customs  bnal   iii   right-liand  corner. 


l^.J^^L'-^Jf^.l 


k 


The  Author's  House-beat  {wu-pan). 

In  which  he  passed  eighteen  days  on  the  river.  The  man  at  the 
stern  and  the  two  men  at  the  bow  keep  her  off  the  rocks  with  long 
bamboo  bc^at-hooks. 


SECOND    JOURNEY. 

ICHANG   TO   CHUNG-KING,   THROUGH    THE 
YANGTZE    GORGES. 

CHAPTER    n. 

Gloom  in  Ichang  Gorge.  Lightning' s  effect.  Travellers'  fear. 
Impressive  introduction  to  the  Gorges.  Boat  gets '^^ into 
Yangtze  fashion.  Storm  and  its  weird  effects.  Wu-pan  : 
what  it  is.  Heavenly  electricity  and  its  vagaries.  Beautiful 
evening  scene,  despite  heavy  rain.  Bedding  soaked.  Sleep 
in  a  Burberry.  Gorges  and  Niagara  Falls  compared. 
Bad  descriptions  of  Yangtze.  World  of  eternity.  Man's 
significant  insignificance.  Life  on  board  briefly  described. 
Philosophy  of  travel.  Houseboat  life  not  luxurious.  Lose 
our  only  wash-basin.  Remarks  on  the  "  boy."  A  change 
in  the  kitchen  :  questionable  soup.  Fairly  low  temperature. 
Troubles  in  the  larder.  General  arrangements  on  board. 
Crew's  sleeping  -  place.  Sacking  makes  a  curtain. 
Journalistic  labours  not  easy.  Rats  preponderate.  Gorges 
described  statistically . 

Deeper  and  deeper  drooped  the  dull  grey  gloom, 
like  a  curtain  falling  slowly  and  impenetrably  over 
all  things. 

A  vivid  but  broken  flash  of  lightning,  blazing  in  a 
flare  of  blue  and  amber,  poured  livid  reflections,  and 
illuminated  with  dreadful  distinctness,  if  only  for 
one  ghastly  moment,  the  stupendous  cUffs  of  the 
Ichang  Gorge,  whose  wall-like  steepness  suddenly 
became  darkened  as  black  as  ink. 

Thus,  with  a  grand  impressiveness,  this  great  gully 
in  the  mountains  assumed  hugely  gigantic  propor- 
tions, stretching  interminably  from  east  to  west,  up 
to  heaven  and  down  to  earth,  silhouetted  to  the  north 


21 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

against  a  small  remaining  patch  of  golden  purple, 
whose  weird  glamour  seemed  awesomely  to  herald 
the  coming  of  a  new  world  into  being,  lasting  but  for 
a  moment  longer,  until  again  the  blue  blaze  quickly 
cut  up  the  sky  into  a  thousand  shreds  and  tiny 
silver  bars.  And  then,  suddenly,  with  a  vast  down 
swoop,  as  if  some  colossal  bird  were  taking  the  earth 
under  her  far-outstretching  wings,  dense  darkness 
fell — impenetrable,  sooty  darkness,  that  in  a  moment 
shut  out  all  Hght,  all  power  of  sight.  Then  from 
out  the  sombre  heavens  deep  thunder  boomed 
ominously  as  the  reverberating  roar  of  a  pack  of 
hunger-ridden  lions,  and  the  two  men,  aUens  in  an 
alien  land,  stood  beneath  the  tattered  matting  awn- 
ing with  a  peculiar  fear  and  some  foreboding.  We 
were  tied  in  fast  to  the  darkened  sides  of  the  great 
Ichang  Gorge — a  magnificent  sixteen-mile  stretch, 
opening  up  the  famous  gorges  on  the  fourth  of  the 
great  rivers  of  the  world,  which  had  cleaved  its 
course  through  a  chain  of  hills,  and  whose  perpen- 
dicular chffs  form  wonderful  rock-bound  banks, 
dispelling  all  thought  of  the  monotony  of  the 
Lower  Yangtze. 

Upstream  we  had  glided  merrily  upon  a  fresh 
breeze,  which  bore  the  warning  of  a  storm.  All  on 
board  was  speedily  settling  down  into  Yangtze 
fashion,  and  the  barbaric  human  clamour  of  our 
trackers,  which  now  mutteringly  died  away,  was 
suddenly  taken  up,  as  above  recorded,  and  all 
unexpectedly  answered  by  a  grander  uproar — a  deep 
threatening  boom  of  far-off  thunder.  In  circHng 
tones  and  semitones  of  wrath  it  volleyed  gradually 
through  the  dark  ravines,  and,  startled  by  the 
sound,  the  two  travellers,  roused  for  the  first  time 
from  their  natural  engrossment  in  the  common  doings 

22 


ICHANG    TO    CHUNG-KING. 

of  the  wu-pan,*  saw  the  shadow  of  the  sun  on  the 
waters,  now  turned  to  a  Hvid  murkiness,  deepen  with 
a  threatening  ink-like  aspect  as  the  river  rushed 
voluminously  past  our  tiny  floating  haven.    Strangely 
silenced  were  we  by  this  weird  terror,  and  watched 
and  listened,  chained  to  the  deck  by  a  thousand 
mingled  fears  and  fascinations,  which  breathed  upon 
our  nerves  like  a  chill  wind.  As  we  became  accustomed 
then  to  the  yellow  darkness,  we  beheld  about  the  land- 
scape a  spectral  look,  and  the  sepulchral  sound  of 
the  moving  thunder  seemed  the  half-muffled  clang 
of  some  great  iron-tongued  funeral  bell.     Then  came 
the  rain,  introduced  swiftly  by  the  deafening  clatter 
of  another  thunder  crash  that  made  one  stagger  like 
a  ship  in  a  wild  sea,  and  we  strained  our  eyes  to  gaze 
into   a  visionary   chasm   cleaved  in   twain  by  the 
furious   hghtning.     Playing  upon  the   face   of   the 
unruffled  river,  with  a  brilliancy  at  once  so  awful 
and  enchanting,  this  singular  flitting  and  wavering 
of  the  heavenly  electricity,  as  it  flashed  haphazardly 
around  all  things,  threw  about  one  an  illumination 
quite  indescribable. 

For  hours  we  sat  upon  a  beam  athwart  the  after- 
deck,  in  silence  drinking  in  the  strange  phenomenon. 
We  watched,  after  a  small  feed  of  curry  and  rice,  long 
into  the  dark  hours,  when  the  thunder  had  passed 
us  by,  and  in  the  distant  booming  one  could  now 
imagine  the  lower  notes  streaming  forth  from  some 
great  solemn  organ  symphony.  The  fierce  light- 
ning twitched,  as  it  danced  in  and  out  the  crevices — 
inwards,  outwards,  upwards,  then  finally  lost  in  one 
downward  swoop  towards  the  river,   tearing  open 

*  A  wu-pan  (literally  wu  of  five  and  pan  of  boards)  is  a  small 
boat,  the  smallest  used  by  travellers  on  the  Upper  Yangtze. 
They  are  of  various  shapes,  made  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
part  of  the  river  on  which  they  ply. — E.  J.  D. 

23 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the  liquid  blackness  with  its  crystal  blade  of  fire. 
The  rain  ceased  not.  But  soon  the  moon,  peeping  out 
from  the  tops  of  a  jagged  wall  above  us,  looking  like 
a  soiled,  half-melted  snowball,  shone  full  down  the  far- 
stretching  gorge,  and  now  its  broad  lustre  shed  itself, 
like  powdered  silver,  over  the  whole  scene,  so  that  one 
could  have  imagined  oneself  in  the  hving  splendour 
of  some  eternal  sphere  of  ethereal  sweetness.  And  so 
it  might  have  been  had  the  rain  abated — a  curious 
accompaniment  to  a  moonhght  night.  Down  it  came, 
straight  and  determined  and  businesslike,  in  the  wind- 
less silence,  dancing  like  a  shower  of  diamonds  of  purest 
brilhance  on  the  background  of  the  placid  waters. 

Very  beautiful,  reader,  for  a  time.  But  would 
that  the  rain  had  been  all  moonshine  ! 

Glorious  was  it  to  revel  in  for  a  time.  But, 
during  the  weary  night  watches,  in  a  bed  long  since 
soaked  through,  and  one's  safest  nightclothes  now 
the  stohd  Burberry,  with  face  protected  by  a  twelve- 
cent,  umbrella,  even  one's  curry  and  rice  saturated  to 
sap  with  the  constant  drip,  and  everything  around 
one  rendered  cold  and  uncomfortable  enough  through 
a  perforation  in  its  slenderest  part  of  the  worn-out 
bamboo  matting — ah,  it  was  then,  then  that  one  would 
have  foregone  with  alacrity  the  dreams  of  the 
nomadic  life  of  the  wu-pan. 

Our  introduction,  therefore,  to  the  great  Gorges  of 
the  Upper  Yangtze — to  China  what  the  Niagara  Falls 
are  to  America — was  not  remarkable  for  its  placidity, 
albeit  taken  with  as  much  complacency  as  the 
occasion  allowed. 

I  do  not,  however,  intend  to  weary  or  to  entertain 
the  reader,  as  may  be,  by  a  long  description  of  the 
Yangtze  gorges.  Time  and  time  again  have  they  fallen 
to  the  imaginative  pens  of  travellers — mostly  bad  or 

24 


ICHANG    TO    CHUNG-KING. 

indifferent  descriptions,  few  good  ;  none  better,, 
perhaps,  than  Mrs.  Bishop's.  But  at  best  they  are 
imaginative — they  lack  reality.  It  has  been  said 
that  the  world  of  imagination  is  the  world  of  eternity, 
and  as  of  eternity,  so  of  the  Gorges — they  cannot  be 
adequately  described.  As  I  write  now  in  the  Ichang 
Gorge,  I  seem  veritably  to  have  reached  eternity.  I 
seem  to  have  arrived  at  the  bosom  of  an  after-life, 
where  one's  body  has  ceased  to  vegetate,  and  where, 
in  an  infinite  and  eternal  world  of  imagination,  one's 
soul  expands  with  fullest  freedom.  There  seems  to 
exist  in  this  eternal  world  of  unending  rock  and  in- 
vulnerable precipice  permanent  reahties  which  stand 
from  eternity  to  eternity.  As  the  oak  dies  and  leaves 
its  eternal  image  in  the  seed  which  never  dies,  so 
these  grand  river-forced  ravines,  abused  and  dis- 
abused as  may  be,  go  on  for  ever,  despite  the  scrib- 
blers, and  one  finds  the  best  in  his  imagination  return- 
ing by  some  back-lane  to  contemplative  thought.  But 
as  a  casual  traveller,  may  I  say  that  the  first  ex- 
perience I  had  of  the  gorges  made  me  modest,  patient, 
single-minded,  conscious  of  man's  significant  in- 
significance, conscious  of  the  unspeakable,  wondrous 
grandeur  of  this  unvisited  corner  of  the  world — 
a  spot  in  which  blustering,  selfish,  self-conceited 
persons  will  not  fare  well  ?  Humility  and  patience  are 
the  first  requisites  in  travelling  on  the  Upper  Yangtze. 

Reader,  for  your  sake  I  refrain  from  a  description^ 
But  may  I,  for  perhaps  your  sake  too,  if  you  would 
wander  hither  ere  the  charm  of  things  as  they  were  in 
the  beginning  is  still  unrobbed  and  unmolested,  give 
you  some  few  impressions  of  a  little  of  the  life — grave, 
gay,  but  never  unhappy — which  I  spent  with  my 
excellent  co- voyager,  The  Other  Man. 

It  is  a  part  of  wisdom,  when  starting  the  journey, 

25 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

not  to  look  forward  to  the  end  with  too  much  eager- 
ness ;  hear  my  gentle  whisper  that  you  may  never 
get  there,  and  if  you  do,  congratulate  yourself ; 
interest  yourself  in  the  progress  of  the  journey,  for 
the  present  only  is  yours.  Each  day  has  its  tasks, 
its  rapids,  its  perils,  its  glories,  its  fascinations,  its 
surprises,  and — if  you  will  live  as  we  did,  its  curry 
and  rice.  Then,  if  you  are  travelling  with  a  com- 
panion, remember  that  it  is  better  to  yield  a  little 
than  to  quarrel  a  great  deal.  Most  disagreeable  and 
undignified  is  it  anywhere  to  get  into  the  habit  of 
standing  up  for  what  people  are  pleased  to  call  their 
little  rights,  but  nowhere  more  so  than  on  the  Upper 
Yangtze  houseboat,  under  the  gaze  of  a  Yangtze 
crew.  Life  is  really  too  short  for  continual  bicker- 
ing, and  to  my  way  of  thinking  it  is  far  quieter, 
happier,  more  prudent  and  productive  of  more  peace, 
if  one  could  yield  a  little  of  those  precious  little  rights 
than  to  incessantly  squabble  to  maintain  them.  There- 
fore, from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  trip,  make 
the  best  of  everything  in  every  day,  and  I  can  assure 
you,  if  you  are  not  ill-tempered  and  suffer  not  from 
your  liver.  Nature  will  open  her  bosom  and  lead  you 
by  these  strange  by-ways  into  her  hidden  charms 
and  unadorned  recesses  of  sublime  beauty,  unecHpsed 
for  their  kind  anywhere  in  the  world. 

Think  not  that  the  life  will  be  luxurious — house- 
boat life  on  the  Upper  Yangtze  is  decidedly  not 
luxurious.  Were  it  not  for  the  magnificence  of  the 
scenery  and  ever-changing  outdoor  surroundings,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  long  river  journey  would  pro- 
[  bably  become  unbearably  dull. 

— ^  *  ^  He  * 

Our  wu-pan  was  to  get  through  the  Gorges  in  as 
short  a  time  as  was  possible,  and  for  that  reason  we 

26 


ICHANG    TO    CHUNG-KING. 

travelled  in  the  discomfort  of  the  smallest  boat  used 
to  face  the  rapids. 

People  entertaining  the  smallest  idea  of  doing 
things  travel  in  nothing  short  of  a  imadze,  the 
orthodox  houseboat,  with  several  rooms  and  ordinary 
conveniences.  Ours  was  a  wn-pan — Uterally  five 
boards.  We  had  no  conveniences  whatever,  and  the 
second  morning  out  we  were  left  without  even  a  wash- 
basin. As  I  was  standing  in  the  stern,  I  saw  it 
swirling  away  from  us,  and  inquiring  through  a 
peep-hole,  heard  the  perplexing  explanation  of  my 
boy.  Gesticulating  violently,  he  told  us  how,  with 
the  wash-basin  in  his  hand,  he  had  been  pushed  by 
one  of  the  crew,  and  how,  loosened  from  his  grasp, 
my  toilet  ware  had  been  gripped  by  the  river— and  now 
appeared  far  down  the  stream  like  a  large  bead.  The 
Other  Man  was  alarmed  at  the  boy's  discomfiture, 
ejaculated  something  about  the  loss  being  quite 
irreparable,  and  with  a  loud  laugh  and  quite  natural 
hilarity  proceeded  quietly  to  use  a  saucepan  as  a 
combined  shaving-pot  and  wash-basin.  It  did  quite 
well  for  this  in  the  morning,  and  during  the  day 
resumed  its  duty  as  seat  for  me  at  the  type- 
writer. 

Our  boy,  apart  from  this  small  misfortune,  com- 
ported himself  pretty  well.  His  English  was  under- 
standable, and  he  could  cook  anything.  He  dished 
us  up  excellent  soup  in  enamelled  cups  and,  as  we 
had  no  ingredients  on  board  so  far  as  we  knew  to 
make  soup,  and  as  The  Other  Man  had  that  day  lost 
an  old  Spanish  tam-o'-shanter,  we  naturally  con- 
cluded that  he  had  used  the  old  hat  for  the  making 
of  the  soup,  and  at  once  christened  it  as  "  consomme 
a  la  maots'i  " — and  we  can  recommend  it.  After  we 
had  grown  somewhat  tired  of  the  eternal  curry  and 

27 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

rice,  we  asked  him  quietly  if  he  could  not  make  us 
something  else,  fearing  a  rebuff.  He  stood  hesi- 
tatingly before  us,  gazing  into  nothingness.  His  face 
was  pallid,  his  lips  hard  set,  and  his  stooping  figure 
looking  curiously  stiff  and  Hfeless  on  that  frozen 
morning — the  temperature  was  36  degrees  below- 
freezing  point,  and  our  noses  were  red  too  ! 

"  God  bless  the  man,  you  no  savee !  I  wantchee 
good  chow.  Why  in  the  name  of  goodness  can't  you 
give  us  something  decent !  What  on  earth  did  you 
come  for  ?  " 

"  Alas ! "  he  shouted,  for  we  were  at  a  rapid,. 
"  my  savee  makee  good  chow.  No  have  got 
nothing !  " 

"  No  have  got  nothing  !  No  have  got  nothing  !  " 
Mysterious  words,  what  could  they  mean  ?  Where, 
then,  was  our  picul  of  rice,  and  our  curry,  and  our 
sugar  ? 

"  The  fellow  's  a  swindler! "  cried  The  Other  Man  in 
an  angry  semitone.  But  that 's  all  very  well.  "  Na 
have  got  nothing!  "  Ah,  there  lay  the  secret.  Pre- 
sently The  Other  Man,  head  of  the  general  com- 
missariat, spoke  again  with  touching  eloquence. 
He  gave  the  boy  to  understand  that  we  were  power- 
less to  alter  or  soften  the  conditions  of  the  larder, 
that  we  were  victims  of  a  horrible  destiny,  that  we 
entertained  no  stinging  malice  towards  him  per- 
sonally— but  .  .  .  could  he  do  it  ?  Either  a  great 
wrath  or  a  great  sorrow  overcame  the  boy  ;  he 
skulked  past,  asked  us  to  lie  down  on  our  shelves, 
where  we  had  our  beds,  to  give  him  room,  and  then 
set  to  work. 

In  twenty-five  minutes  we  had  a  three-course 
meal  (all  out  of  the  same  pot,  but  no  matter),  and 
onwards   to   our   destination   we    fed   royally.      In 

28 


ICHANG    TO    CHUNG-KING. 

parting  with  the  men  after  our  safe  arrival  at  Chung- 
king, we  left  with  them  about  seven-eighths  of  the 
picul — and  were  not  at  all  regretful.  , 

I  should  not  like  to  assert — because  I  am  telHng  the 
truth  here — that  our  boat  was  bewilderingly  roomy.  ■  J^At^ 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  its  length  was  some  forty  feet, 
its  width  seven  feet,  its  depth  much  less,  and  it  drew 
eight  inches  of  water.  Yet  in  it  we  had  our  bed- 
rooms, our  dressing-rooms,  our  dining-rooms,  our 
library,  our  occasional  medicine-room,  our  cooking- 
room — and  all  else.  If  we  stood  bolt  upright  in  the 
saloon  amidships  we  bumped  our  heads  on  the 
bamboo  matting  which  formed  an  arched  roof.  On 
the  nose  of  the  boat  slept  seven  men — you  may 
question  it,  reader,  but  they  did ;  in  the  stern,  on 
either  side  of  a  great  rudder,  slept  our  boy  and  a 
friend  ofShis  ;  and  between  them  and  us,  laid  out 
flat  on  the  top  of  a  cellar  (used  by  the  ship's  cook  for 
the  storing  of  rice,  cabbage,  and  other  uneatables, 
and  the  breeding-cage  of  hundreds  of  rats,  which 
swarm  aU  around  one)  were  the  captain  and  com- 
modore— a  fat,  fresh-complexioned,  jocose  creature, 
strenuous  at  opium  smoking.  Through  the  holes  inj 
the  curtain — a  piece  of  sacking,  but  one  would  not 
wish  this  to  be  known — dividing  them  from  us,  we 
could  see  him  preparing  his  globules  to  smoke  before 
turning  in  for  the  night,  and  despite  our  frequent 
raving  objections,  our  words  ringing  with  vibrating 
abuse,  it  continued  all  the  way  to  Chung-king:  he 
certainly  gazed  in  disguised  wonderment,  but  we 
could  not  get  him  to  say  anything  bearing  upon 
the  matter.  Temperature  during  the  day  stood 
at  about  50  degrees,  and  at  night  went  down  to 
about  30  degrees  below  freezing  point.  Rains 
were   frequent.     Journalistic  labours,   seated   upon 

29 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the  upturned  saucepan  aforesaid,  without  a  cushion, 
went  hard.  At  night  the  Chinese  candle,  much  wick 
and  httle  wax,  stuck  in  the  centre  of  an  empty 
"  Three  Castles  "  tin,  which  the  boy  had  used  for 
some  days  as  a  pudding  dish,  gave  us  light.  We 
generally  slept  in  our  overcoats,  and  as  many 
others  as  we  happened  to  have.  Rats  crawled 
over  our  uncurtained  bodies,  and  woke  us  a 
dozen  times  each  night  by  either  nibbling  our 
ears  or  falling  bodily  from  the  roof  on  to  our 
faces.  Our  joys  came  not  to  us — they  were  made 
on  board. 

The  following  are  the  Gorges,  with  a  remark  or 
two  about  each,  to  be  passed  through  before  one 
reaches  Kweifu  : — 


NAME    OF   GORGE. 


Ichang  Gorge     . .   i6  miles 


Niu  Kan  Ma  Fee 
(or  Ox  Liver 
Gorge) 


4  miles 


Mi  Tsang  (or  Rice 
Granary  Gorge) 


2  miles 


First  and  probably 
one  of  the  finest 
of  the  Gorges. 

An  hour's  journey 
after  coming  out 
of  the  Ichang 
Gorge,  if  the 
breeze  be  favour- 
able ;  an  arduous 
day's  journey 
during  high  river, 
with  no  wind. 
Finest  view  is  ob- 
tained from  wes- 
tern extremity  ; 
exceedingly  pre- 
cipitous. 


30 


ICHANG    TO    CHUNG-KING. 


NAME    OF   GORGE. 


Niu       Kou       (or  — 

Buffalo     Mouth 
Reach) 


Urishan  Hsia  (or 
Gloomy  Moun- 
tain Gorge) 


Fang  Hsian  Hsia 
(or  Windbox 
Gorge) 


REMARKS. 

Very  quiet  in  low- 
water  season  ; 
wild  stretch  dur- 
ing high  river. 
At  the  head  of 
this  reach  H. M.S. 
Woodlark  came 
to  grief  on  her 
maiden  trip  (see 
page  42). 

Over  thirty  miles  in 
length.  Grandest 
and  highest  gorge 
en  route  to  Chung- 
king. Half-way 
through  is  the 
boundary  be- 
tween Hu-peh 
and  Szech'wan. 

Last  of  the  gorges  ; 
just  beyond  is 
the  city  of 
Kweifu. 


31 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE    YANGTZE    RAPIDS. 

The  following  is  a  rough  list  of  the  principal  rapids  to 
he  negotiated  on  the  river  upward  from  Ichang. 
One  of  the  chief  discomforts  the  traveller  first 
experiences  is  due  to  a  total  ignorance  of  the  vicinity 
of  the  main  rapids,  and  often,  therefore,  when  he  is 
least  expecting  it  perhaps,  he  is  called  upon  by  the 
laohan  to  go  ashore.  He  has  then  to  pack  up  the 
things  he  values,  is  dragged  ashore  himself,  his  gear 
follows,  and  one  who  has  no  knowledge  of  the 
language  and  does  not  know  the  ropes  is,  therefore, 
never  quite  happy  for  fear  of  some  rapid  turning  up. 
By  comparing  the  rapids  with  the  Gorges  the  traveller 
would,  however,  from  the  lists  given,  be  able  easily 
to  trace  the  whereabouts  of  the  more  dangerous 
rushes;  which  are  distributed  with  alarming  frequency 
on  the  river  between  Ichang  and  Kweifu. 

TA   TONG   t'AN    (OTTER   CAVE   RAPID). 

Low  water  rapid.     Swirling  volume  of  coffee  and 
milk  colour  ;  round  about  a  maze  of  rapids  and  races, 
n  the  Yao-cha  Ho  reach. 

TONG   LING   RAPID. 

At  the  foot  of  the  Ox  Liver  Gorge.  An  enormous 
black  rock  Hes  amid  stream  some  forty  feet  below,  or 
perhaps  as  much  above  the  surface,  but  unless  ex- 
perienced  at    low    water  will   not    appeal    to   the 

32 


The  factotum  of  t/ic  tup. 


An  up-rivey  Customs  station. 


•^ 


THE    YANGTZE    RAPIDS. 

traveller  as  a  rapid  ;  passage  dangerous,  dreaded 
during  low-water  season.  On  Dec.  28th,  1900,  the 
German  steamer,  Sui-Hsiang  was  lost  here.  She 
foundered  in  twenty-five  fathoms  of  water,  with  an 
immense  hole  ripped  in  her  bottom  by  the  black  rock  ; 
all  on  board  saved  by  the  red  boats,  with  the 
exception  of  the  captain. 

HSIN   t'AN   rapids    (OR   CHIN   T'AN   RAPIDS). 

During  winter  quite  formidable  ;  the  head,  second 
and  third  rapids  situated  in  close  proximity,  the  head 
rapid  being  far  the  worst  to  negotiate.  On  a  bright 
winter's  day  one  of  the  finest  spectacles  on  the  Upper 
Yangtze.  Wrecks  frequent.  Just  at  head  of  Ox 
Liver  Gorge. 

YEH   t'AN    (or   wild   RAPID). 

River  reduced  suddenly  to  half  its  width  by  an 
enormous  detritus  of  boulders,  taking  the  form  of  a 
huge  jagged  tongue,  with  curling  on  edges  ;  commonly 
said  to  be  high  when  the  Hsin  T'an  is  low.  At  its 
worst  during  early  summer  and  autumn.  Wrecks 
frequent,  after  Mi  Tsang  Gorge  is  passed,  eight  miles 
from  Kwei-chow. 

Niu  k'eo  t'an  (buffalo  mouth  rapid). 
Situated  at  the  head  of  Buffalo  Mouth  Reach,  said 
to  be  more  difficult  to  approach  than  even  the  Yeh 
T'an,  because  of  the  great  swirls  in  the  bay  below. 
H.M.S.  Woodlark  came  to  grief  here  on  her  maiden 
trip  up  river  (see  page  42). 

HSIN    ma   t'an    (or    dismount    HORSE    RAPID). 

Encountered  through  the  Urishan  Hsia  or  Gloomy 
Mountain  Gorge,  particularly  nasty  during  mid-river 

33 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

season.  Just  about  here,  in  1906,  the  French  gun- 
boat Olry  came  within  an  ace  of  destruction  by 
losing  her  rudder.  Immediately,  like  a  riderless 
horse,  she  dashed  off  headlong  for  the  rocky  shore ; 
but  at  the  same  instant  her  engines  were  working 
astern  for  all  they  were  worth,  and  fortunately 
succeeded  in  taking  the  way  off  her  just  as  her  nose 
grazed  the  rocks,  and  she  slid  back  undamaged  into 
the  swirly  bay,  only  to  be  waltzed  round  and  tossed 
to  and  fro  by  the  violent  whirlpools.  However,  by 
good  luck  and  management  she  was  kept  from 
dashing  her  brains  out  on  the  reefs,  and  eventually 
brought  in  to  a  friendly  sand  patch  and  safely 
moored,  whilst  a  wooden  jury  rudder  was  rigged,  with 
which  she  eventually  reached  her  destination. 

HEH   SHIH   T'AN    (OR   BLACK   ROCK   RAPID). 

Almost  at  the  end  of  the  Wind  Box  Gorge. 

HSIN   LONG   T'AN    (OR   NEW   DRAGON   RAPID). 

Twenty-five  miles  below  Wan  Hsien.  Sometimes 
styled  Glorious  Dragon  Rapid,  it  constitutes  the 
last  formidable  stepping-stone  during  low  river  on- 
ward to  Chung-king.  Worst  during  the  months  of 
February  and  March.  It  was  formed  by  a  landsHp 
as  recently  as  1896,  when  the  whole  side  of  a  hill 
falhng  into  the  stream  reduced  its  breadth  to  less 
than  a  fourth  of  what  it  was  previously,  and  produced 
this  roaring  rapid. 

This  pent-up  volume  of  water,  always  endeavour- 
ing to  break  away  the  rocky  bonds  which  have 
harnessed  it,  rushes  roaring  as  a  huge,  tongue-shaped, 
tumbhng  mass  between  its  confines  of  rock  and  reef. 
Breaking  into  swift  back-wash  and  swirls  in  the  bay 
below,  it  lashes  back  in  a  white  fury  at  its  obstacles. 

34 


THE    YANGTZE    RAPIDS. 

Fortunately  for  the  jimk  traffic,  it  improves  rapidly 
with  the  advent  of  the  early  spring  freshets,  and  at 
mid-level  entirely  disappears.  The  rapid  is  at  its 
worst  during  the  months  of  February  and  March, 
when  it  certainly  merits  the  appellation  of  "  Glorious 
Dragon  Rapid,"  presenting  a  fine  spectacle,  though 
perhaps  a  somewhat  fearsome  one  to  the  traveller, 
who  is  about  to  tackle  it  with  his  frail  barque.  A 
hundred  or  more  wretched-looking  trackers,  mostly 
women  and  children,  are  tailed  on  to  the  three  stout 
bamboo  hausers,  and  amid  a  mighty  din  of  rushing 
water,  beating  drums,  cries  of  pilots  and  boatmen, 
the  boat  is  hauled  slowly  and  painfully  over.  Accord- 
ing to  Chinese  myths,  the  landslip,  which  produced 
the  rapid  was  caused  by  the  following  circum- 
stance. The  ova  of  a  dragon  being  deposited  in 
the  bowels  of  the  earth  at  this  particular  spot,  in 
due  course  became  hatched  out  in  some  mysterious 
manner.  The  baby  dragon  grew  and  grew,  but  re- 
mained in  a  dormant  state  until  quite  full  grown, 
when,  as  is  the  habit  of  the  dragon,  it  became  active, 
and  at  the  first  awakening  shook  down  the  hill-side 
by  a  mighty  effort,  freed  himself  from  the  bowels  of 
the  earth,  and  made  his  way  dowTi  river  to  the  sea  > 
hence  the  landshp,  the  rapid,  and  its  name. 

FUH   T'aN   rapid    (or   TIGER   RAPID). 

Eight  miles  beyond  Wan  Hsien.  Very  savage 
during  summer  months,  but  does  not  exist  during 
low-water  season.  Beyond  this  point  river  widens 
considerably.  Twenty-five  miles  further  on  travellers 
should  look  out  for  Shih  Pao  Chai,  or  Precious  Stone 
Castle,  a  remarkable  cHff  some  250  or  300  feet  high. 
A  curious  eleven-storied  pavilion,  built  up  the  face 
of  the  cliff,  contains  the  stairway  to  the  summit,  on 

.35 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

which  stands  a  Buddhist  temple.  There  is  a  legend 
attached  to  this  remarkable  rock  that  savours  very 
much  of  the  goose  with  the  golden  eggs. 

Once  upon  a  time,  from  a  small  natural  aperture 
near  the  summit,  a  supply  of  rice  sufficient  for  the 
needs  of  the  priests  flowed  daily  into  a  basin-shaped 
hole,  just  large  enough  to  hold  the  day's  supply. 

The  priests,  however,  thinking  to  get  a  larger  daily 
supply,  chiselled  out  the  basin-shaped  hole  to  twice 
its  original  size,  since  when  the  flow  of  rice  ceased. 

KWAN   IN   t'AN    (or   GODDESS   OF  MERCY   RAPID). 

Two  miles  beyond  the  town  of  Feng  T'ou.  Like 
the  Fuh  T'an,  is  an  obstacle  to  navigation  only  during 
the  summer  months,  when  junks  are  often  obhged 
to  wait  for  several  days  for  a  favourable  opportunity 
to  cross  the  rapid. 


36 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Scene  at  the  Rapid.  Dangers  of  the  Yeh  T'an.  Gear  taken 
ashore.  Intense  cold.  Further  preparation.  Engaging 
the  trackers.  Fever  of  excitement.  Her  nose  is  put  to  it. 
Struggles  for  mastery.  Author  saves  boatman.  Fifteen- 
knot  current.  Terrific  labour  on  shore.  Man  nearly  falls 
overboard.  Straining  hawsers  carry  us  over  safely.  The 
merriment  among  the  men.  The  thundering  cataract. 
Trackers'  chanting.  Their  life.  "  Pioneer  "  at  the  Yeh  T'an. 
The  Buffalo  Mouth  Reach.  Story  of  the  "  Woodlark." 
How  she  was  saved.  Arrival  at  Kweifu.  Difficulty  in 
landing.  Laying  in  provisions.  Author  laid  up  with 
malaria.  Survey  of  trade  in  Shanghai  and  Hong-Kong. 
Where  and  why  the  Britisher  fails.  Comparison  with 
Germans.  Three  western  provinces  and  pack-horse  traffic. 
Advantages  of  new  railway.  Yangtze  likely  to  be 
abandoned.  East  India  Company.  French  and  British 
interests.     Hint  to  Hong-Kong  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Wild  shrieking,  frantic  yelling,  exhausted  groaning, 
confusion  and  clamour, — one  long,  deafening  din.  A 
bewildering,  maddening  mob  of  reckless,  terrified 
human  beings  rush  hither  and  thither,  unseeingly  and 
distractedly.  Will  she  go  ?  Yes  !  No  !  Yes  ! 
Then  comes  the  screeching,  the  scrunching,  the 
straining,  and  then — a  final  snap  !  Back  we  go, 
sheering  helplessly,  swayed  to  and  fro  most  danger- 
ously by  the  foaming  waters,  and  almost,  but  not 
quite,  turn  turtle.  The  red  boat  follows  us  anxiously, 
and  watches  our  timid  little  craft  bump  against  the 
rock-strewn  coast.  But  we  are  safe,  and  raise  un- 
consciously a  cry  of  gratitude  to  the  deity  of  the 
river. 

We  were  at  the  Yeh  T'an,  or  the  Wild  Rapid,  some 
distance   on  from   the  Ichang   Gorge,  were  almost 

37 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

over  the  growling  monster,  when  the  tow-line,  strain- 
ing to  its  utmost  limit,  snapped  suddenly  with  little 
warning,  and  we  drifted  in  a  moment  or  two  away 
down  to  last  night's  anchorage,  far  below,  where 
we  were  obliged  to  bring  up  the  last  of  the  long 
tier  of  boats  of  which  we  were  this  morning  the 
first. 

And  now  we  are  ready  again  to  take  our  turn. 

Our  gear  is  all  taken  ashore.  Seated  on  a  stone  on 
shore,  watching  operations,  is  The  Other  Man.  The 
sun  vainly  tries  to  get  through,  and  the  intense  cold 
is  almost  unendurable.  No  hitch  is  to  occur  this 
time.  The  toughest  and  stoutest  bamboo  hawsers 
are  dexterously  brought  out,  their  inboard  ends 
bound  in  a  flash  firmly  round  the  mast  close  down  to 
the  deck,  washed  by  the  great  waves  of  the  rapid, 
just  in  front  of  the  'midships  pole  through  which  I 
breathlessly  w^atch  proceedings.  I  want  to  feel 
again  the  sensation.  The  captain,  in  essentially  the 
Chinese  way,  is  engaging  a  crew  of  demon-faced 
trackers  to  haul  her  over.  Pouring  towards  the 
boat,  in  a  fever  of  excitement  that  rises  higher  every 
moment,  the  natural  elements  of  hunger  and  con- 
stant struggle  against  the  great  river  swell  their 
fury  ;  they  bellow  like  wild  beasts,  they  are  like 
beasts,  for  they  have  known  nothing  but  struggle  all 
their  lives  ;  they  have  always,  since  they  were  tiny 
children,  been  fighting  this  roaring  water  monster — 
they  know  none  else.  And  now,  as  I  say,  they  bellow 
like  beasts,  each  man  ravenously  eager  to  be  among 
the  number  chosen  to  earn  a  few  cash.*  The  arrange- 
ment at  last  is  made,  and  the  discordant  hubbub, 
instead  of  lessening,  grows  more  and  more  deafening. 

*  Cash,  a  small  brass  coin  with  a  hole  through  the  middle. 
Nominally  i.ooo  cash  to  the  dollar.     See  Appendix  K. 

38 


THE    YANGTZE    RAPIDS. 

It  is  a  miserable,  desperate,  wholly  panic-stricken 
crowd  that  then  harnesses  up  with  their  great  hooks 
joined  to  a  rough  waist-belt,  with  which  they  connect 
themselves  to  the  strainmg  tow-lines. 

And  now  her  nose  is  put  into  the  teeth  of  this 
trough  of  treachery — a  veritable  boiling  cauldron, 
stirring  up  all  past  mysteries.  Waves  rush  furiously 
towards  us,  with  the  growl  of  a  thousand  demons, 
whose  anger  is  only  swelled  by  the  thousands  of 
miles  of  her  course  from  far-away  Tibet.  It  seems  as 
if  they  must  instantly  devour  her,  and  that  we  must 
now  go  under  to  swell  the  number  of  their  victims. 
But  they  only  beat  her  back,  for  she  rides  gracefully, 
faltering  timidly  with  frightened  creaks  and  groans, 
whilst  the  waters  shiver  her  frail  bulwarks  with  their 
cruel  message  of  destruction,  which  might  mean  her 
very  death-rattle.  I  get  lande^in  the  stomach  with 
the  end  of  a  gigantic  bamboo  boat-hook,  used  by  one 
of  the  man  standing  in  the  bows  whose  duty  is  to 
fend  her  off  the  rocks.  He  falls  towards  the  river. 
I  grab  his  single  garment,  give  one  swift  pull,  and 
he  comes  up  again  with  a  jerky  little  laugh  and  asks 
if  he  has  hurt  me — yelHng  through  his  hands  in  my 
ears,  for  the  noise  is  terrible.  To  look  out  over  the 
side  makes  me  giddy,  for  the  fifteen-knot  current, 
blustering  and  bubbling  and  foaming  and  leaping, 
gives  one  the  feeling  that  he  is  in  an  express  train 
tearing  through  the  sea.  On  shore,  far  ahead,  I  can 
see  the  trackers — straggling  forms  of  men  and  women, 
touching  each  other,  grasping  each  other,  wrestling 
furiously  and  mightily,  straining  on  all  fours,  now 
gripping  a  boulder  to  aid  them  forward,  now  to  the 
right,  now  to  the  left,  always  fighting  for  one  more 
inch,  and  engaged  in  a  task  which  to  one  seeing  it 
for  the  first  time  looks  as  if  it  were  quite  beyond 

39 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

human  effort.  Fagged  and  famished  beings  are 
these  traclcers,  whose  hfe  day  after  day,  week  in 
week  out,  is  harder  than  the  average  costermonger's 
donkey.  They  throw  up  their  hands  in  a  dumb 
frenzy  of  protest  and  futile  appeal  to  the  presiding 
deity ;  and  here  on  the  river,  depending  entirely  on 
those  men  on  the  shore,  slowly,  inch  by  inch,  the 
little  craft,  feeling  her  own  weakness,  forges  ahead 
against  the  leaping  current  in  the  gapway  in  the  reef. 
None  come  to  offer  assistance  to  our  crowd,  who  are 
now  turned  facing  us,  and  strain  almost  flat  on 
their  backs,  giving  the  strength  of  every  drop  of 
blood  and  fibre  of  their  being ;  and  the  scene,  now  lit 
up  by  a  momentary  ghmmer  of  feeble  sunlight, 
assumes  a  wonderful  and  terrible  picturesqueness. 
I  am  chained  to  the  spot  by  a  horrible  fascination, 
and   I    find   myself   unconsciously  saying,    "  I   fear 

she  will  not  go.     I  fear "     But  a  man  has  fallen 

exhausted,  he  almost  fell  overboard,  and  now  leans 
against  the  mast  in  utter  weariness  and  fatigue, 
brought  on  by  the  morning's  exertions.  He  is  in- 
stantly relieved  by  a  bull-dog  fellow  of  enormous 
strength.  Now  comes  the  culminating  point,  a 
truly  terrifying  moment,  the  very  anguish  of  which 
frightened  me,  as  I  looked  around  for  the  Hfeboat, 
and  I  saw  that  it  disturbed  even  the  commodore's 
cold  and  self-satisfied  dignity.  The  hawsers  strain 
again.  Creak,  crack !  creak  crack !  The  lifeboat 
watches  and  comes  nearer  to  us.  There  is  a  mighty 
yell.  We  cannot  go !  Yes,  we  can  !  There  is  a 
mighty  pull,  and  you  feel  the  boat  almost  torn 
asunder.  Another  mighty  pull,  a  tremendous  quiver 
of  the  timbers,  and  you  turn  to  see  the  angry 
water,  which  sounds  as  if  a  hundred  hounds  are 
beating  under   us  for   entry   at    the   barred   door. 

40 


THE    YANGTZE    RAPIDS. 

There  is  another  deafening  yell,  the  men  tear  away 
like  frightened  horses.  Another  mighty  pull,  and 
another,  and  another,  and  we  sHde  over  into  smooth 
water. 

Then  I  breathe  freely,  and  yell  myself. 

The  little  boat  seems  to  gasp  for  breath  like  a 
drowning  man,  saved  in  the  nick  of  time,  shuddering 
in  every  limb  with  pain  and  fear. 

As  we  tied  up  in  smooth  water,  all  the  men,  from 
the  laohan  to  the  meanest  tracker,  laughed  and  yelled 
and  told  each  other  how  it  was  done.  We  baled  the 
water  out  of  the  boat,  and  one  was  glad  to  pull  away 
from  the  deafening  hum  of  the  thundering  cataract. 
A  faulty  tow-line,  a  slippery  hitch,  one  false  step,  one 
false  manoeuvre,  and  the  shore  might  have  been  by 
that  time  strewn  with  our  corpses.  As  it  was,  we 
were  safe  and  happy. 

But  the  trackers  are  strange  creatures.  At  times ' 
they  are  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ahead.  Soft  echoes  of 
their  coarse  chanting  came  down  the  confines  of  the 
gully,  after  the  rapid  had  been  passed,  and  in  round- 
ing a  rocky  promontory  mid-stream,  one  would  catch 
sight  of  them  bending  their  bodies  in  puUing  steadily 
against  the  current  of  the  river.  Occasionally  one 
of  these  poor  fellows  shps  ;  there  is  a  shriek,  his  body 
is  dashed  unmercifully  against  the  jagged  cHffs  in  its 
last  journey  to  the  river,  which  carries  the  mutilated 
corpse  away.  And  yet  these  men,  engaged  in  this 
terrific  toil,  with  utmost  danger  to  their  lives,  hve 
almost  exclusively  on  boiled  rice  and  dirty  cabbage, 
and  receive  the  merest  pittance  in  money  at  the 
journey's  end.  -* 

Some  idea  of  the  force  of  this  enormous  volume  of 
water  may  be  given  by  mentioning  the  exploits  of 
the  steamer  Pioneer,   which   on   three   consecutive 

41 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

occasions  attacked  the  Yeh  T'an  when  at  its  worst, 
and,  though  steaming  a  good  fourteen  knots,  failed 
to  ascend.  She  was  obliged  to  lay  out  a  long  steel- 
wire  hawser,  and  heave  herself  over  by  means  of  her 
windlass,  the  engines  working  at  full  speed  at  the 
same  time.  Hard  and  heavy  was  the  heave,  gaining 
foot  by  foot,  with  a  tension  on  the  hawser  almost  to 
breaking  strain  in  a  veritable  battle  against  the 
dragon  of  the  river.  Yet  so  complete  are  the 
changes  which  are  wrought  by  the  great  variation  in 
the  level  of  the  river,  that  this  formidable  mid-level 
rapid  completely  disappears  at  high  level. 

After  we  had  left  this  rapid — and  right  glad  were 
we  to  get  away — we  came,  after  a  couple  of  hours' 
run,  to  the  Niu  K'eo,  or  Buffalo  Mouth  Reach,  quiet 
enough  during  the-low  water  season,  but  a  wild 
stretch  during  high  river,  where  many  a  junk  is 
caught  by  the  violently  gyrating  swirls,  rendered 
unmanageable,  and  dashed  to  atoms  in  as  short  a 
space  of  time  as  it  takes  to  wTite  it,  on  some  rocky 
promontory  or  boulder  pile.  It  was  here  that  the 
Woodlark,  one  of  the  magnificent  gunboats  which 
patrol  the  river  to  safeguard  the  interests  of  the 
Union  Jack  in  this  region,  came  to  grief  on  her 
maiden  trip  to  Chung-king.  One  of  these  strong 
swirls  caught  the  ship's  stern,  rendering  her  rudders 
useless  for  the  moment,  and  causing  her  to  sheer 
broadside  into  the  foaming  rapid.  The  engines  were 
immediately  reversed  to  full  speed  astern;  but  the 
swift  current,  combined  with  the  momentum  of  the 
ship,  carried  her  willy-nilly  to  the  rockbound  coast, 
on  which  she  crumpled  her  bows  as  if  they  were  made 
of  tin.  Fortunately  she  was  built  in  water-tight 
sections  ;  her  engineers  removed  the  forward  section, 
straightened  out  the  crumpled  plates,  riveted  them 

42 


THE    YANGTZE    RAPIDS. 

together,  and  bolted  the  section  back  into  its  place 
again  so  well,  that  on  arrival  at  Chung-king  not  a 
trace  of  the  accident  was  visible. 


Upon  arrival  at  Kweifu  one  bids  farewell  to  the 
Gorges.  This  town,  formerly  a  considerable  coaling 
centre,  overlooks  magnificently  pretty  hillocks,  with 
cottage  gardens  cultivated  in  every  accessible  corner, 
and  a  wide  sweep  of  the  river. 

We  landed  with  difficulty.  "  Chor,  chor !  "  yelled 
the  trackers,  who  marked  time  to  their  cry,  swinging 
their  arms  to  and  fro  at  each  short  step  ;  but  they 
almost  gave  up  the  ghost.  However,  we  did  land, 
and  so  did  our  boy,  who  bought  excellent  provisions 
and  meat,  which,  alas !  too  soon  disappeared. 
The  mutton  and  beef  gradually  grew  less  and  daily 
blackened,  wrapped  up  in  opposite  corners  of  the 
cabin,  under  the  protection  from  the  wet  of  a  couple 
of  sheets  of  the  "  Pink  'Un." 

From  Kweifu  to  Wan  Hsien  there  was  the  same 
kind  of  scenery — the  clear  river  winding  among 
sand-flats  and  gravel-banks,  with  occasional  stiff 
rapids.  But  after  having  been  in  a  wu-pan  for 
several  days,  suffering  that  which  has  been  detailed, 
and  much  besides,  the  journey  got  a  bit  dreary. 
These,  however,  are  ordinary  circumstances ;  but  when 
one  has  been  laid  up  on  a  bench  of  a  bed  for  three 
days  with  a  high  temperature,  a  legacy  of  several 
years  in  the  humid  tropics,  the  physical  discomfort 
baffles  description.  Malaria,  as  all  sufferers  know,  has 
a  tendency  to  cause  trouble  as  soon  as  one  gets  into 
^old  weather,  and  in  my  case,  as  will  be  seen  in  subse- 
<5[uent  parts  of  this  book,  it  held  faithfully  to  its  best 
traditions.     Fever    on    the    Yangtze   in    a    wu-pan 

43 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

would  require  a  chapter  to  itself,  not  to  mention. 
the  kindly  eccentricities  of  a  companion  whose 
knowledge  of  malaria  was  most  elementary  and 
whose  knowledge  of  nursing  absolutely  nil.  But 
I  refrain.  As  also  do  I  of  further  talk  about  the- 
Yangtze  gorges  and  the  rapids. 

From  Kweifu  to  Wan  Hsien  is  a  tedious  journey. 
The  country  opens  out,  and  is  more  or  less- 
monotonously  fiat.  The  majority  of  the  dangers  and 
difficulties,  however,  are  over,  and  one  is  able  to 
settle  do\\'n  in  comparative  peace.  Fortunately  for 
the  author,  nothing  untoward  happened,  but  travel- 
lers are  warned  not  to  be  too  sanguine.  Wrecks- 
have  happened  within  a  few  miles  of  the  destination, 
generally  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  unhappy  knack 
the  Chinese  boatman  has  of  taking  all  precautions 
where  the  dangerous  rapids  exist,  and  leaving  all  to 
chance  elsewhere.  Some  two  years  later,  as  I  was- 
coming  down  the  river  from  Chung-king  in  December, 
I  counted  no  less  than  nine  wrecks,  one  boat  having- 
on  board  a  cargo  for  the  China  Inland  Mission 
authorities  of  no  less  than  480  boxes.  The  contents 
were  spread  out  on  the  banks  to  dry,  while  the  boat 
was  turned  upside  down  and  repaired  on  the  spot. 


A  hopeless  cry  is  continually  ascending  in  Hong- 
Kong  and  Shanghai  that  trade  is  bad,  that  the  palmy^ 
days  are  gone,  and  that  one  might  as  well  leave 
business  to  take  care  of  itself. 

And  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  increased  trade  in. 
the  Far  East  does  not  of  necessity  mean  increased 
profits.  Competition  has  rendered  buying  and  selHng, 
if  they  are  to  show  increased  dividends,  a  much 
harder  task  than  some  of  the  older  merchants  had 


44 


THE    YANGTZE    RAPIDS. 

when  they  built  up  their  businesses  twenty  or  thirty 
years  ago.  There  is  no  comparison.  But  Hong- 
Kong,  by  virtue  of  her  remarkably  favourable  posi- 
tion geographically,  should  always  be  able  to  hold 
lier  own. ;  and  now  that  the  railway  has  pierced  the 
great  province  of  Yiin-nan,  and  brought  the  provinces 
beyond  the  navigable  Yangtze  nearer  to  the 
■outside  world,  she  should  be  able  to  reap  a  big 
harvest  in  Western  China,  if  merchants  will  move 
at  the  right  time.  More  often  than  not  the  Britisher 
loses  his  trade,  not  on  account  of  the  alleged  reason 
that  business  is  not  to  be  done,  but  because,  content 
with  his  club  life,  and  with  playing  games  when  he 
should  be  doing  business,  he  allows  the  German  to 
Tush  past  him,  and  this  man,  an  alien  in  the  colony, 
l3y  persistent  plodding  and  other  more  or  less  com- 
mendable traits  of  business  which  I  should  like  to 
detail,  but  for  which  I  have  no  space,  takes  away  the 
trade  while  the  Britisher  looks  on. 

The  whole  of  the  trade  of  the  three  western  pro- 
vinces—Yiin-nan,  Kwei-chow  and  Szech'wan — has 
for  all  time  been  handled  by  Shanghai,  going  into 
the  interior  by  the  extremely  hazardous  route  of 
these  Yangtze  rapids,  and  then  over  the  mountains 
TDy  cooHe  or  pack-horse.  This  has  gone  on  for 
centuries.  But  now  the  time  has  come  for  the  Hong- 
Kong  trader  to  step  in  and  carry  away  the  Hon  share 
•of  the  greatly  increasing  foreign  trade  for  those  three 
provinces  by  means  of  the  advantage  the  new 
Tonkin-Yiin-nan  Railway*  has  given  him. 

The  railway  runs  from  Haiphong  in  Indo-China 
to  Yiin-nan-fu,  the  capital  of  Yiin-nan  province. 
And  it  appears  certain  to  the  writer  that,  with  such 

*  For  further  information  respecting  this  new  railway  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Appendix  E. 

45 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

an  important  town  three  or  four  days  from  the  coast, 
shipjjcrs  will  not  be  content  to  continue  to  ship  via 
the  Yangtze,  with  all  its  risk.  British  and  Ameri- 
can merchants,  who  carry  the  greater  part  of  the 
imports  to  Western  China,  will  send  their  goods 
direct  to  Hong-Kong,  where  transhipment  will  be 
made  to  Haiphong,  and  thence  shipped  by  rail  to 
Yiin-nan  Fu,  the  distributing  centre  for  inland  trade. 
To  my  mind,  Hong-Kong  merchants  might  control 
the  whole  of  the  British  trade  of  Western  China  if 
they  will  only  push,  for  although  the  tariff  of  Tonkin 
may  be  heavy,  it  would  be  compensated  by  the  fact 
that  transit  would  be  so  much  quicker  and  safer.* 
But  it  needs  push. 

The  history  of  our  intercourse  with  China,  from 
the  days  of  the  East  India  Company  till  now,  is 
nothing  but  a  record  of  a  continuous  struggle  to 
open  up  and  develope  trade.  Opening  up  trade, 
too,  with  a  people  who  have  something  pathetic  in 
the  honest  persistency  with  which  their  officials  have 
vainly  struggled  to  keep  themselves  uncontaminated 
from  the  outside  world.  Trade  in  China  cannot  be 
left  to  take  care  of  itself,  as  is  done  in  Western  coun- 
tries. However  invidious  it  may  seem,  we  must 
admit  the  fact  that  past  progress  has  been  due  to 
pressure.  Therefore,  if  the  opportunities  were  placed 
near  at  hand  to  the  Hong-Kong  shipper,  he  would 
be  an  unenterprising  person  indeed  were  he  not  to 
avail  himself  of  the  opportunity.  Shanghai  has  held 
the  trump  card  formerly.     This  cannot  be  denied. 

*  This  is  taliing  it  for  granted  tiiat  the  new  railway  will 
be  so  successful  as  to  break  down  the  pack-horse  transport.  One 
imagines  that  it  will,  but  the  line  has  not  been  opened  long 
enough  for  one  to  hazard  a  guess  even.     (June,  1910.) 

No  very  great  advance  has  been  made,  and  pack-horse  traf&c 
remains  practically  unaffected.     (February,  19 11.)  E.J.D. 

46 


THE    YANGTZE    RAPIDS. 

But  I  think  the  railway  is  destined  to  turn  the  trade 
route  to  the  other  side  of  the  empire.  It  is  merely 
a  question  as  to  who  is  to  get  the  trade — the  French 
or  the  British.  The  French  are  on  the  alert.  They 
cannot  get  territory ;  now  they  are  after  the  trade. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  it  would  be  to  the  advantage 
of  the  colony  of  Hong-Kong  were  the  Chamber  ol 
Commerce  there  to  investigate  the  matter  thoroughly^ 
Now  is  the  time. 


47 


THIRD    JOURNEY. 

CHUNG-KING   TO   SUI-FU    (VIA   LUCHOW). 

CHAPTER   V. 

Beginning  of  the  overland  journey.  The  official  halo  around  ike 
caravan.  The  people's  goodbyes.  Stages  to  Sui-fu.  A 
persistent  coolie.  My  boy's  indignation,  and  the  sequel. 
Kindness  of  the  people  of  Chung-king.  The  Chung-king 
Consulate.  Need  of  keeping  fit  in  travelling  in  China. 
Walking  tabooed.  The  question  of  "  face,"  and  what  it 
means.  Author  runs  the  gauntlet.  Carrying  coolie's  rate 
of  pay.  The  so-called  great  paved  highways  of  China,  and  a 
few  remarks  thereon.  The  garden  of  China.  Magnificence 
of  the  scenery  of  Western  China.  The  tea-shops.  The 
Chinese  coolie's  thirst  and  how  the  author  drank.  Population 
of  Szech'wan.  Minerals  found.  Salt  and  other  things.  The 
Chinese  inn  :  how  it  holds  the  palm  for  unmitigated  filth. 
Description  of  the  rooms.  Szech'wan  and  Yiin-nan  caravan- 
serais. Need  of  a  camp  bed.  Toileting  in  unsecluded 
publicity.  How  the  author  was  met  at  market  towns.  How 
the  days  do  not  get  dull. 

In  a  manner  admirably  befitting  to  my  rank  as  an 
English  traveller,  apart  from  the  fact  that  I  was 
the  man  wlio  was  endeavouring  to  cross  China  on 
foot,  I  was  led  out  of  Chung-king  en  route  for  Bhamo 
alone,  my  companion  having  had  to  leave  me  here. 

It  was  Easter  Sunday,  a  crisp  spring  morning. 

First  came  a  public  sedan-chair,  bravely  borne  by 
three  of  the  finest  fellows  in  all  China,  at  the  head  of 
which  on  either  side  were  two  uniformed  persons 
called  soldiers — incomprehensible  to  one  who  has 
no  knowledge  of  the  interior,  for  they  bore  no  marks 

48 


Outside  Chung-king. 

How  the  Author  "  saved  his  face."     The  chair,  carried  by  three  men, 
was  taken  simply  for  the  honour  and  glory  it  added  to  one's  caravan. 


-J 


Ploughing  the  rue-jields  in  SzccKwan. 


Uii  the  iiidin  load  in  Szech' uuiit. 

The  fellow  who  has  his  hand  over  his  face  created  a  disturbance 
because  the  author  was  snapping  the  picture  ;  but  he  had  no  means 
of  escape.  On  both  sides  were  rice  fields,  and  he  did  not  care  to 
take  the  risk. 


Tea  carriers,  canying  tea  into  Tibet.     Each  bundle  weighs  250  lbs. 


CHUNG-KING   TO    SUI-FU. 

whatever  of  the  mihtary — whilst  uniformed  men 
also  solemnly  guarded  the  back.  Then  came  the 
grinning  coolies,  carrying  that  meagre  portion  of 
my  worldly  goods  which  I  had  anticipated  would 
have  been  engulfed  in  the  Yangtze.  And  at  the 
head  of  all,  leading  them  on  like  captains  do  the 
Salvation  Army,  was  I  myself,  walking  along 
triumphantly,  undoubtedly  looking  a  person  of 
weight,  but  somehow  peculiarly  unable  to  get  out 
of  my  head  that  little  adage  apropos  the  fact  that 
when  the  blind  shall  lead  the  blind  both  shall  fall 
into  a  ditch  !  But  Chinese  decorum  forbade  me 
falling  behind.  I  had  determined  to  walk  across 
China,  every  inch  of  the  way  or  not  at  all ;  and  the 
chair  coolies,  unaware  of  my  intentions  presumably, 
thought  it  a  great  joke  when  at  the  western  gate, 
through  which  I  departed,  I  gave  instructions  that 
one  hundred  cash  be  doled  out  to  each  man  for  his 
graciousness  in  escorting  me  through  the  town. 

All  the  people  were  in  the  middle  of  the  streets — 
those  slippery  streets  of  interminable  steps — to  give 
me  at  parting  their  blessings  or  their  curses,  and  only 
with  difficulty  and  considerable  pouting  and  pushing 
could  I  sufficiently  take  their  attention  from  the 
array  of  official  and  civil  servants  who  made  up  my 
caravan  as  to  effect  an  exit. 

The  following  were  to  be  the  stages  : — 


Tst   day — Ts'eo-ma-k'ang 
2nd  day — Uin-ch'uan  hsien 
3rd  day — Li-shih-ch'ang 
4th  day — Luchow    . . 
5th  day — Lan-ching-ch'ang 
6th  day — Lan-chi-hsien 
7th  day — Sui-fu 


80  h. 
120  „ 
105  ., 

75  ,, 
80  „ 

75,; 
120  ,, 


49 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

In  my  plainest  English  and  with  many  cruel 
gestures,  four  miles  from  the  towTi,  I  told  a  man  that 
he  narrowly  escaped  being  knocked  do\vn,  owing  to 
his  extremely  rude  persistence  in  accosting  me  and 
obstructing  my  way.  He  acquiesced,  opened  his 
large  mouth  to  the  widest  proportions,  seemed 
thoroughly  to  understand,  but  continued  more 
noisily  to  prevent  me  from  going  onwards,  yelhng 
something  at  the  top  of  his  husky  voice — a  voice 
more  like  a  fog-horn  than  a  human  voice — which 
made  me  fear  that  I  had  done  something  very  wrong, 
but  which  later  I  interpreted  ignorantly  as  impudent 
humour, 

I  owed  nothing ;  so  far  as  I  knew,  I  had  done 
nothing  wrong. 

"  Hi,   fellow  !    come   out   of  the   way  !     Reverse 

your  carcass  a  bit,   old  chap  !     Get  !     What 

the  who  the ?  " 

"  Oh,  master,  he  wantchee  makee  much  bobbery. 

He  no  b'long  my  pidgin,  d rogue  !    He  wantchee 

catch    one   more  hunderd   cash  !       He   b'long    one 
piecee  chairman  !  " 

This  to  me  from  my  bo}''  in  apologetic  explana- 
tion. 

Then,  turning  wildly  upon  the  man,  after  the 
manner  of  his  kind  raising  his  little  fat  body  to  the 
tops  of  his  toes  and  effectively  assuming  the  attitude 
of  the  stage  actor,  he  cursed  loudly  to  the  uttermost  of 
eternity  the  impudent  fellow's  ten  thousand  rela- 
tives and  ancestry ;  which,  although  it  called  forth 
more  mutual  confidences  of  a  like  nature,  and  made 
T'ong  (my  boy)  foam  at  the  mouth  with  rage  at  such 
an  inopportune  proceeding  happening  so  early  in  his 
career,  rendering  it  necessary  for  him  to  push  the 
man  in  the  right  jaw,  incidentally  allowed  him  to 

50 


CHUNG-KING    TO    SUI-FU. 

show  his  master  just  a  httle  that  he  could  do.  The 
man  had  been  dumped  against  the  wall,  but  he  was 
still  undaunted.  With  thin  mud  dropping  from  one 
leg  of  his  flimsy  pantaloons,  he  came  forward  again, 
did  this  cliair  coolie,  whom  I  had  just  paid  off — for  it 
was  assuredly  one  of  the  trio — leading  out  again 
one  of  those  little  wdry,  shaggy  ponies,  and  wished 
to  do  another  deal.  He  had,  however,  struck  a 
snag.  We  did  not  come  to  terms.  I  merely  lifted 
the  quadruped  bodily  from  my  path  and  walked 
on. 

Chung-king  people  treated  us  well,  and  had  it  not 
been  for  their  kindness  the  terrible  three  days  spent 
still  in  our  wu-pan  on  the  crowded  beach  would 
have  been  more  terrible  still. 

At  the  Consulate  we  found  Mr.  Phillips,  the 
Acting-Consul,  ready  packed  up  to  go  down  to 
Shanghai,  and  Mr.  H.  E.  Sly,  whom  we  had  met  in 
Shanghai,  was  due  to  relieve  him.  Mr.  J.  L.  Smith, 
of  the  Consular  Service,  was  here  also,  just  reaching 
a  state  of  convalescence  after  an  attack  of  measles, 
and  was  to  go  to  Chen-tu  to  take  up  duty  as  soon  as 
he  was  fit.  But  despite  the  topsy-turvydom,  we 
were  made  welcome,  and  both  Phillips  and  Smith 
did  their  best  to  entertain.  Chung-king  Consulate 
is  probably  the  finest — certainly  one  of  the  finest — 
in  China,  built  on  a  commanding  site  overlooking 
the  river  and  the  city,  with  the  bungalow  part  over 
in  the  hills.  It  possesses  remarkably  fine  grounds, 
has  every  modern  convenience,  not  the  least  attrac- 
tive features  being  the  cement  tennis-court  and  a 
small  polo  ground  adjoining.  I  had  hoped  to  see 
polo  on  those  little  rats  of  ponies,  but  it  could  not 
be  arranged.  I  should  have  liked  to  take  a  stick 
as  a  farewell. 


51 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

People  were  shocked  indeed  that  I  was  going  to 
walk  across  China. 
[  Let  me  say  here  that  travel  in  the  Middle  Kingdom 
is  quite  possible  anywhere  provided  that  you  are 
fit.  You  have  merely  to  learn  and  to  maintain 
untold  patience,  and  you  are  able  to  get  where  you 
like,  if  5'ou  have  got  the  money  to  pay  your  way  ;  * 
but  walking  is  a  very  different  thing.  It  is  probable 
that  never  previously  has  a  traveller  actually  walked 
across  China,  if  we  except  the  Rev.  J.  McCarthy,  of 
the  China  Inland  Mission,  who  some  thirty  years  or 
so  ago  did  walk  across  to  Burma,  although  he  went 
through  Kwei-chow  province  over  a  considerably  easier 
country.  Not  because  it  is  by  any  means  physically 
impossible,  but  because  the  custom  of  the  country — 
and  a  cursed  custom  too — is  that  one  has  to  keep 
what  is  called  his  "  face."  And  to  walk  tends  to 
make  a  man  lose  "  face." 

A  quiet  jaunt  through  China  on  foot  was,  I  was 
told,  quite  out  of  the  question ;  the  uneclipsed 
audacity  of  a  man  mentioning  it,  and  especially  a 
man  such  as  I  was,  was  marvelled  at.  Did  I  not 
know  that  the  foreigner  must  have  a  chair  ?  (This 
was  corroborated  by  my  boy,  on  his  oath,  because 
he  would  have  to  pay  the  men.)  Did  I  not  know 
that  no  traveller  in  Western  China,  who  at  any  rate 
had  any  sense  of  self-respect,  would  travel  without 
a  chair,  not  necessarily  as  a  conveyance,  but  for 
the  honour  and  glory  of  the  thing  ?  And  did  I  not 
know  that,  unfurnished  with  this  undeniable  token 
of  respect,  I  should  be  liable  to  be  thrust  aside  on 
the  highway,  to  be  kept  waiting  at  ferries,  to  be 

*  This  refers  to  the  main  roads.  There  are  many  places  in 
isolated  and  unsurveyed  districts  where  it  is  extremely  difficult 
and  often  impossible  to  get  along  at  all. — E.  J.  D. 

52 


CHUNG-KING    TO    SUI-FU. 

relegated    to    the    worst    inn's    worst    room,    and 
to    be    generally    treated    with    indignity  ?       This 
idea    of     mine    of    crossing    China    on    foot    was  ' 
preposterous  !  -     i 

Even  Mr.  Hudson  Broomhall,  of  the  China  Inland 
Mission,  who  with  Mrs.  Broomhall  was  extremely  kind, 
and  did  all  he  could  to  fit  me  up  for  the  journey 
(it  is  such  remembrances  that  make  the  trip  one 
which  I  would  not  mind  doing  again),  was  sur- 
prised to  know  that  I  was  walking,  and  tried  to 
persuade  me  to  take  a  chair.  But  I  flew  in  the  face 
of  it  all.  These  good  people  certainly  impressed 
me,  but  I  decided  to  run  the  gauntlet  and  take  the 
risk. 

The  question  of  "  face  "  is  always  merely 
one  of  theory,  never  of  fact,  and  the  principles 
that  govern  "  face  "  and  its  attainment  were  wholly 
beyond  my  apprehension.  "  I  shall  probably  be 
more  concerned  in  saving  my  life  than  in  saving  my 
face,"  I  thought. 

Therefore  it  was  that  when  I  reached  a  place 
called  Fu-to-gwan  I  discarded  all  superfluities  of 
dress,  and  strode  forward,  just  at  that  time  in  the 
early  morning  when  the  sun  was  gilding  the  dew- 
drops  on  the  hedgerows  with  a  grandeur  which 
breathed  encouragement  to  the  traveller,  in  a  flannel 
shirt  and  flannel  pants — a  terrible  breach  of  foreign 
etiquette,  no  doubt,  but  very  comfortable  to  one  who 
was  facing  the  first  eighty  li  he  had  ever  walked  on 
China's  soil.  My  three  coolies — the  typical  Chinese 
coolie  of  Szech'wan,  but  very  good  fellows  with  all 
their  faults — were  to  land  me  at  Sui-fu,  230  miles 
distant  (some  650  li),  in  seven  days'  time.  They  were 
to  receive  four  hundred  cash  per  man  per  day,  were 
to  find  themselves,  and  if  I  reached  Sui-fu  within  the 

53 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

specified  time  I  agreed  to  kumshaw  them  to  the 
extent  of  an  extra  thousand.*  They  carried,  accord- 
ing to  arrangement,  ninety  catties  apiece,  and  their 
rate  of  pay  I  did  not  consider  excessive  until  I  found 
that  each  man  sublet  his  contract  for  a  fourth  of 
his  pay,  and  trotted  along  light-heartedly  and  merry 
at  my  side  ;  then  I  regretted  that  I  had  not  thought 
twice  before  closing  with  them. 

It  is  probable  that  the  solidity  of  the  great  paved 
highways  of  China  have  been  exaggerated.  I  have 
not  been  on  the  North  China  highways,  but  have 
had  considerable  experience  of  them  in  Western 
China,  Szech'wan  and  Yiin-nan  particularly,  and 
have  very  little  praise  to  lavish  upon  them.  Certain 
it  is  that  the  road  to  Sui-fu  does  not  deserve  the  nice 
things  said  about  it  by  various  travellers.  The 
whole  route  from  Chung-king  to  Sui-fu,  paved 
with  flagstones  varying  in  width  from  three  to  six  or 
seven  feet — the  only  main  road,  of  course — is  credit- 
ably regular  in  some  places,  whilst  other  portions, 
especially  over  the  mountains,  are  extremely  bad 
and  uneven.  In  some  places  I  could  hardly  get 
along  at  all,  and  my  boy  would  call  out  as  he  came 
along  in  his  chair  behind  me — 

"  Master,  I  thinkee  you  makee  catch  two  piecee 
men  makee  carry.  This  b'long  no  proper  road. 
P'raps  your  makee  bad  feet  come." 

And  truly  my  feet  were  shamefully  blistered. 

*  This  rate  of  four  hundred  cash  per  day  per  man  was  main- 
tained right  up  to  Tong-ch'uan-fu,  although  after  Chao-t'ong  the 
usual  rate  paid  is  a  little  higher,  and  the  bad  cash  in  that  district 
made  it  difficult  for  my  men  to  arrange  four  hundred  "  big  " 
cash  current  in  Szech'wan  in  the  Yiin-nan  equivalent  (see  Appendix 
K  on  currency  at  the  end  of  the  book).  After  Tong-ch'uan-fu,  right 
on  to  Burma,  the  rate  of  coolie  pay  varies  considerably.  Three 
tsien  two  fen  (thirty-two  tael  cents)  was  the  highest  I  paid  until 
I  got  to  Tengyueh,  where  rupee  money  came  into  circulation,  and 
where  expense  of  living  was  considerably  higher. — E.  J.  D. 

54 


CHUNG-KING    TO    SUI-FU. 

One  had  to  step  from  stone  to  stone  with 
considerable  agility.  In  places  bridges  had  fallen  in, 
nobody  had  attempted  to  put  them  into  a  decent  state 
of  repair — though  this  is  never  done  in  China — and 
one  of  the  features  of  every  day  was  the  wonderful 
fashion  in  which  those  mountain  ponies  picked  their 
way  over  the  broken  route  ;  they  are  as  sure-footed 
as  goats. 

As  I  gazed  admiringly  along  the  miles  and  miles 
of  ripening  wheat  and  golden  rape,  pink-flowering 
beans,  interspersed  everywhere  with  the  inevitable 
poppy,  swaying  gently  as  in  a  sea  of  all  the  dainty 
colours  of  the  rainbow,  I  did  not  wonder  that 
Szech'wan  had  been  called  the  Garden  of  China. 
Greater  or  denser  cultivation  I  had  never  seen. 
The  amphitheatre-like  hills  smiled  joyously  in 
the  first  gentle  touches  of  spring  and  enriching 
green,  each  terrace  being  irrigated  from  the  one 
below  by  a  small  stream  of  water  regulated  in  the 
most  primitive  manner  (the  windlass  driven  by  man 
power),  and  not  a  square  inch  lost.  Even  the 
mud  banks  dividing  these  fertile  areas  are  made  to 
yield  on  the  sides  cabbages  and  lettuces  and  on  the 
tops  wheat  and  poppy.  There  are  no  fences.  You 
see  before  you  a  forest  of  mountains,  made  a  dark 
leaden  colour  by  thick  mists,  from  out  of  which 
gradually  come  the  never-ending  pictures  of  green 
and  purple  and  brown  and  yellow  and  gold,  which 
roll  hither  and  thither  under  a  cloudy  sky  in  in- 
describable confusion.  The  chain  may  commence 
in  the  south  or  the  north  in  two  or  three  soft, 
slow-rising  undulations,  which  trend  away  from  you 
and  form  a  vapoury  background  to  the  landscape. 
From  these  (I  see  such  a  picture  even  as  I  write, 
seated  on  the  stone  steps  in  the  middle  of  a  mountain 

55 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

path),  at  once  united  and  peculiarly  distinct,  rise  five 
masses  with  rugged  crests,  rough,  and  cut  into 
shady  hollows  on  the  sides,  a  faint  pale  aureola  from 
the  sun  on  the  mists  rising  over  the  summits  and 
sharp  outlines.  Looking  to  the  north,  an  immense 
curved  line  shows  itself,  growing  ever  greater,  open- 
ing like  the  arch  of  a  gigantic  bridge,  and  binding 
this  first  group  to  a  second,  more  complicated,  each 
peak  of  which  has  a  form  of  its  own,  and  does  in 
some  sort  as  it  pleases  without  troubling  itself  about 
its  neighbour.  The  most  remarkable  point  about 
these  mountains  is  the  life  they  seem  to  possess.  It 
is  an  incredible  confusion.  Angles  are  thrown 
fantastically  by  some  mad  geometer,  it  would  seem. 
Splendid  banyan  trees  shelter  one  after  toiling  up 
the  unending  steps,  and  dotted  over  the  landscape, 
indiscriminately  in  magnificent  picturesqueness,  are 
pretty  farmhouses  nestling  almost  out  of  sight  in 
groves  of  sacred  trees.  Oftentimes  perpendicular 
mountains  stand  sheer  up  for  three  thousand  feet  or 
more,  their  sides  to  the  very  summits  ablaze  with 
colour  coming  from  the  smiling  face  of  sunny  Nature, 
in  spots  at  times  where  only  a  twelve-inch  cultivation 
is  possible. 

A  dome  raises  its  head  curiously  over  the  leaning 
shoulder  of  a  round  hill,  and  a  pyramid  reverses  itself, 
as  if  to  the  music  of  some  ^vild  orchestra,  whose 
symphonies  are  heard  in  the  mountain  winds.  Seen 
nearer  and  in  detail,  these  mountains  are  all  in 
delicious  keeping  with  all  of  what  the  imagination  in 
love  with  the  fantastic,  attracted  by  their  more 
distant  forms,  could  dream.  Valleys,  gorges,  sombre 
gaps,  walls  cut  perpendicularly,  rough  or  polished 
by  water,  cavities  festooned  with  hanging  stalac- 
tites and  notched  like  Gothic  sculptures — all  make 

56 


CHUNG-KING   TO    SUI-FU. 

up   a   strange   sight   which   cannot   but   excite    ad- 
miration. 

Every  mile  or  so  there  are  tea-houses,  and  for  a 
couple  of  cash  a  coolie  can  get  a  cup  of  tea,  with 
leaves  sufficient  to  make  a  dozen  cups,  and  as  much 
boiling  water  as  he  wants.     Szech  wan,  the  country,, 
its   people,    their    ways    and   methods,    and   much 
information    thereto    appertaining,    is    already    in 
print.      It  were   useless    to   give   more    of   it   here 
— and,    reader,    you   will  thank  me  !      But  of  the] 
thirst  of  Szech'wan — that  thirst  which  is  unique  in  i 
the  whole  of  the  Empire,  and  eclipsed  nowhere  on/ 
the  face  of  the  earth,  except  perhaps  on  the  Sahara — \ 
one  does  not  hear  about. 

Many  an  Englishman  would  give  much  for  the 
Chinese  coolie's  thirst — so  very,  very  much.  _ 

I  wonder  whether  you,  reader,  were  ever  thirsty  ?  | 
Probably  not.  You  get  a  thirst  which  is  not  m- 
satiable.  Yours  is  born  of  nothing  extraordinary  ; 
youi*s  can  be  satisfied  by  a  gulp  or  two  of  water,  or 
perhaps  by  a  drink — or  perhaps  two,  or  perhaps 
three — of  something  stronger.  The  Chinese  coolie's 
thirst  arises  from  the  grilling  sun,  from  a  dancing^ 
glare,  from  hard  hauling,  struggling  with  120  pounds 
slung  over  his  shoulders,  dangling  at  the  end  of  a 
bamboo  pole.  I  have  had  this  thirst  of  the  Chinese 
coolie — I  know  it  well.  It  is  born  of  sheer  heat  and 
sheer  perspiration.  Every  drop  of  liquid  has  been 
wrung  out  of  my  body  ;  I  have  seemed  to  have 
swum  in  my  clothes,  and  inside  my  muscles  have 
seemed  to  shrink  to  dry  sponge  and  my  bones  to 
dry  pith.  My  substance,  my  strength,  my  self  has 
drained  out  of  me.  I  have  been  conscious  of  per- 
petual evaporation  and  liquefaction.  And  I  have 
felt   that   I   must   stop   and   wet  myself  again.     I 

57 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

really  must  wet  myself  and  swell  to  life  again.  And 
here  we  sit  at  the  tea-shop.  People  come  and  stare 
at  me,  and  wonder  what  it  is.  They  too  are  thirsty, 
for  they  are  all  coohes  and  have  the  coolie  thirst. 

I  wet  myself.  I  pour  in  cup  after  cup,  and  my 
body,  my  self  sucks  it  in,  draws  it  in  as  if  it  were  the 
water  of  life.  Instantly  it  gushes  out  again  at  every 
pore.  I  swill  in  more,  and  out  it  rushes  again,  madly 
rushes  out  as  quickly  as  it  can.  I  swill  in  more 
and  more,  and  out  it  comes  defiantly.  I  can  keep 
none  inside  me.  Useless — I  camiot  quench  my  thirst. 
At  last  the  thirst  thinks  its  conquest  assured,  taking 
the  hot  tea  for  a  signal  to  surrender ;  but  I  pour 
in  more,  and  gradually  feel  the  tea  settling  within  me. 
I  am  a  degree  less  torrid,  a  shade  more  substantial. 

And  then  here  comes  my  boy. 

"  Master,  you  wantchee  makee  one  drink  brandy- 
and-soda.  No  can  catchee  soda  this  side — have 
got  water.     Can  do  ?  " 

Ah !  shall  I  ?  Shall  I  ?  No  !  I  throw  it  away 
from  me,  fling  a  bottle  of  cheap  brandy  which  he 
had  bought  for  me  at  Chung-king  away  from  me, 
and  the  boy  looks  forlorn. 

Tea  is  the  best  of  all  drinks  in  China ;  for  the 
traveller  unquestionably  the  best.  Good  in  the 
morning,  good  at  midday,  good  in  the  evening,  good 
at  night,  even  after  the  day's  toil  has  been  forgotten. 
To-morrow  I  shall  have  more  walking,  more  thirst- 
ing, more  tea.  China  tea,  thou  art  a  godsend  to  the 
Avayfarer  in  that  great  land  ! 

I  endeavoured  to  get  the  details  of  the  population 
of  the  province  of  Szech'wan,  the  variability  of  the 
reports  providing  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  uncer- 
tainty impending  over  everything  statistical  in  China 
— estimates  ranged  from  thirty-five  to  eighty  millions. 

58 


CHUNG-KING    TO    LtUI-FU. 

The  surface  of  this  province  is  made  up  of  masses 
of  rugged  mountains,  through  which  the  Yangtze 
lias  cut  its  deep  and  narrow  channel,  and  which  is 
everywhere  intersected  by  steep-sided  valleys  and 
ravines.  The  world-famed  plain  of  Chen-tu,  the 
capital,  is  the  only  plain  of  any  size  in  the  province, 
the  system  of  irrigation  employed  on  it  being  one 
of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  Every  food  crop 
flourishes  in  Szech'wan,  an  inexhaustible  supply  of 
products  of  the  Chinese  pharmacopoeia  enrich  the 
stores  and  destroy  the  stomachs  of  the  well-to-do ; 
and  with  the  exception  of  cotton,  all  that  grows  in 
Eastern  China  grows  better  in  this  great  Garden 
of  the  Empire.  Its  area  is  about  that  of  France, 
its  climate  is  even  superior — a  land  delightfully 
accidentee.  Among  the  minerals  found  are  gold, 
silver,  cinnabar,  copper,  iron,  coal  and  petroleum ; 
the  chief  products  being  opium,*  white  wax,  hemp, 
yellow  silk.  Szech'wan  is  a  province  rich  in  salt, 
obtained  from  artesian  borings,  some  of  which 
extend  2,500  feet  below  the  surface,  and  from  which 
for  centuries  the  brine  has  been  laboriously  raised 
by  antiquated  windlass  and  water  buffalo. 

The  best  conditions  of  Chinese  inns  are  far  and 
away  worse  than  anything  the  traveller  would  be 
called  upon  to  encounter  anywhere  in  the  British 
Isles,  even  in  the  most  isolated  places  in  rural 
Ireland.  There  can  be  no  comparison.  And  my  ] 
reader  wiU  understand  that  there  is  much  which  the 
European  misses  in  the  way  of  general  physical 
comfort  and  cleanliness.  Sanitation  is  absent  in 
toto.  Ordinary  decency  forbids  one  putting  into 
print  what  the  uninitiated  traveller  most  desires  to 

*  This  is  not  now  true  of  opium,   owing  to  the  remarkable 
decrease  in  the  growth. — E.  J.  D. 

.      59 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

know — if  he  would  be  saved  a  severe  shock  at  the 
outset  ;  but  everyone  has  to  go  through  it,  because 
one  cannot  write  what  onesees.  All  travellers  who 
have  had  to  put  up  at  the  caravanserais  in  Central 
and  Western  China  will  bear  me  out  in  my  assertion 
that  all  of  them  reek  with  filth  and  are  overrun  by 
vermin  of  every  description.  The  traveller  whom 
misfortune  has  led  to  travel  off  the  main  roads  of 
Russia  may  probably  hesitate  in  expressing  an 
opinion  as  to  which  country  carries  off  the  palm  for 
unmitigated  filth  ;  but,  with  this  exception,  travellers 
in  the  Eastern  Archipelago,  in  Central  Asia,  in  Africa 
among  the  wildest  tribes,  are  pretty  well  unanimous 
that  compared  with  all  these  for  dirt,  disease,  dis- 
comfort, an  utter  lack  of  decency  and  annoyance, 
the  Chinese  inn  holds  its  own.  And  in  no  part  of 
China  more  than  in  Szech'wan  and  Yiin-nan  is  greater 
discomfort  experienced. 

The  usual  wooden  bedstead  stands  in  the  comer 
of  the  room  with  the  straw  bedding  (this,  by  the 
way,  should  on  no  account  be  removed  if  one  wishes 
to  sleep  in  peace),  sometimes  there  is  a  table,  some- 
times a  couple  of  chairs.  If  these  are  steady  it  is 
lucky,  if  unbroken  it  is  the  exception  ;  there  are  never 
more.  Over  the  bedstead  (more  often  than  not,  by  the 
way,  it  is  composed  of  four  planks  of  varying  lengths 
and  thickness,  placed  across  two  trestles)  I  used 
first  to  place  my  oilskin,  then  my  p'n-k'ai,  and  that 
little  creeper  which  rhymes  with  hug  did  not  disturb 
me  much.  Rats  ran  round  and  over  me  in  profusion, 
and,  of  course,  the  best  room  being  invariably 
nearest  the  pigsties,  there  were  the  usual  stenches. 
The  floor  was  Mother  Earth,  which  in  wet  weather 
became  mud,  and  quite  a  common  thing  was  it  for 
my  joys  to  be  enhanced  during  a  heavy  shower  of 

60 


CHUNG-KING    TO    SUI-FU. 

rain  by  having  to  sleep,  almost  suffocated,  with  my 
mackintosh  over  my  head,  owing  to  a  slight  break 
in  the  continuity  of  the  roof — my  umbrella  being 
unavailable,  as  one  of  my  men  dropped  it  over 
a  precipice  two  days  out.  For  many  reasons  a 
camp-bed  is  to  Europeans  an  indispensable  part  of 
even  the  most  modest  travelling  equipment.  I  was 
many  times  sorry  that  I  had  none  wdth  me. 

The  inns  in  Szech'wan,  however,  are  by  many 
degrees  better  than  those  of  Yiin-nan,  which  are 
sometimes  indescribable.  Earthen  floors  are 
saturated  with  damp  filth  and  smelling  decay ; 
there  are  rarely  the  paper  windows,  but  merely 
a  sort  of  opening  of  woodwork,  through  which 
the  offensive  smells  of  decaying  garbage  and 
human  filth  waft  in  almost  to  choke  one  ;  tables 
collapse  under  the  weight  of  one's  dinner  ;  walls  are 
always  in  decay  and  hang  inwards  threateningly  ; 
wicked  insects,  which  crawl  and  jump  and  bite,  creep 
over  the  side  of  one's  rice  bowl — and  much  else. 
Who  can  describe  it  ?     It  makes  one  ill  to  think  of  it. 

Throughout  my  joumeyings  it  was  necessary  for 
my  toileting,  in  fact  everything,  to  be  performed  in 
absolutely  unsecluded  publicity.  Three  days  out 
my  boy  fixed  up  a  cold  bath  for  me,  and  barricaded  a 
room  which  had  a  certain  amount  of  privacy  about 
it,  owing  to  its  secluded  position  ;  but  little  boys 
and  grown  men,  anxious  to  see  what  it  was  like 
when  it  had  no  clothes  on,  came  forward,  poked 
their  fingers  through  the  paper  in  the  windows  (of 
course,  glass  is  hardly  known  in  the  interior),  and 
greedily  peeped  in.  This  and  the  profound  curiosity 
the  people  evince  in  one's  every  action  and  movement 
I  found  most  trying. 

It  was  my  misfortune  each  day  at  this  stage  to  come 

6i 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

into  a  town  or  village  where  market  was  in  progress. 
Catching  a  sight  of  the  foreign  visage,  people  opened 
their  eyes  widely,  turned  from  me,  faced  me  again 
with  a  little  less  of  fear,  and  then  came  to  me,  not  in 
dozens,  but  in  hundreds,  with  open  arms.  They 
shouted  and  made  signs,  and  walking  excitedly  by 
my  side,  they  examined  at  will  the  texture  of  my 
clothes,  and  touched  my  boots  with  sticks  to  see 
whether  the  feet  were  encased  or  not.  For  the  time 
I  was  their  hero.  When  I  walked  into  an  inn 
business  brightened  immediately.  Tea  was  at  a 
premium,  and  only  the  richer  class  could  afford  nine 
cash  instead  of  three  to  drink  tea  with  the  bewildered 
foreigner.  The  more  inquisitive  came  behind  me, 
rubbing  their  unshaven  pates  against  the  side  of  my 
head  in  enterprising  endeavour  to  see  through  the 
sides  of  my  spectacles.  They  would  speak  to  me, 
yelling  in  their  coarsest  tones,  thinking  my  hearing 
was  defective.  I  would  motion  them  to  go  away, 
always  politely,  cleverly  suppressing  my  sense  of 
indignation  at  their  conduct ;  and  they  would  do  so, 
only  to  make  room  for  a  worse  crowd.  The  town's 
business  stopped  ;  people  left  their  stalls  and  shops 
to  glare  aimlessly  at  or  to  ask  inane  and  unintelli- 
gible questions  about  the  barbarian  who  seemed  to 
have  dropped  suddenly  from  the  heavens.  When  I 
addressed  a  few  words  to  them  in  strongest  Saxon- 
Enghsh,  telling  them  in  the  name  of  all  they  held 
sacred  to  go  away  and  leave  me  in  peace,  something 
like  a  cheer  would  go  up,  and  my  boy  would  swear 
them  all  down  in  his  choicest.  When  I  slowly  rose 
to  move  the  crowd  looked  disappointed,  but  allow*^.d 
me  to  go  forward  on  my  journey  in  peace. 
Thus  the  days  passed,  and  I  was  never  dull. 


62 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Szech'wan  people  a  mercenary  lot.  Adaptability  to 
trading.  None  but  Nature  lovers  should  come  to  Western 
China.  The  life  of  the  nomad.  The  opening  of  China,  and 
some  impressions.  China's  position  in  the  eyes  of  her  own 
people.  Industrialism,  railways,  and  the  attitude  of  the 
populace.  Introduction  of  foreign  machinery.  Different 
opinions  formed  in  different  provinces.  Climate,  and  ivhat 
it  is  responsible  for.  Recent  Governor  of  Szech'wan' s  tribute 
to  Christianity .  New  China  and  the  neiv  student. 
Revolutionary  element  in  Yiin-nan.  Need  of  a  new  life, 
and  how  China  is  to  get  it.  Luchow,  and  a  little  about  it. 
Fusong  from  the  military.  Necessity  of  the  sedan-chair. - 
Cost  of  lodging.  An  impudent  woman.  Choice  pidgin- 
English.  Some  of  the  annoyances  of  travel.  Canadian 
and  China  Inland  Missionaries.  Exchange  of  yarns. 
Exasperating  Chinese  life,  and  its  effects  on  Europeans. 
Men  refuse  to  walk  to  Sui-fu.  Experiences  in  arranging 
up-river  trip.  Unmeaning  etiquette  of  Chinese  officials 
towards  foreigners.  Rude  awakening  in  the  morning.  A 
trying  early -morning  ordeal.  Reckonings  do  not  tally. 
An  eventful  day.  At  the  China  Inland  Mission. 
Impressions  of  Sui-fu.     Fictitious  partnerships. 

The   people    of    Szech'wan,    compared    with    other  • 
Yangtze  provinces,  must  be  called  a  mercenary,  it  a 
go-ahead,  one. 

Balancing  myself  on  a  three-inch  form  in  a  tea- 
shop  at  a  small  town  midway  between  Li-shih-ch'ang 
and  Luchow,  I  am  endeavouring  to  take  in  the  scene 
around  me.  The  people  are  so  numerous  in  this- 
province  that  they  must  struggle  in  order  to  live. 
Vain  is  it  for  the  most  energetic  among  them  to 
escape  from  the  shadow  of  necessity  and  hunger; 
tdl  are  similarly  begirt,  so  they  settle  down  to  devote 
all  their  energies  to  trade.  And  trade  they  do,  in. 
very  earnest. 

63 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

Evetything  is  labelled,  from  the  earth  to  the  in- 
habitants ;  and  these  primitives,  these  blissfully 
heathen  people,  have  become  the  most  consummate 
of  sharpers.  I  walk  up  to  buy  something  of  the 
value  of  only  a  few  cash,  and  on  all  sides  are  nets  and 
traps,  like  spider-webs,  and  the  fly  that  these  gentry 
would  catch,  as  they  see  me  stalk  around  inspecting 
their  wares,  is  myself.  They  seem  to  lie  in  wait  for 
one,  and  for  an  article  for  which  a  coolie  would  pay 
a  few  cash  as  many  dollars  are  demanded  of  the 
foreigner.  My  boy  stands  by,  however,  magnificently 
proud  of  his  lucrative  and  important  post,  yelling 
precautions  to  the  curious  populace  to  stand  away. 
He  hints,  he  does  not  declare  outright,  but  by  un- 
gentle innuendo  allows  them  to  understand  that, 
whatever  their  private  characters  may  be,  to  him 
they  are  all  liars  and  rogues  and  thieves.  It  is  all  so 
funny,  that  one's  fatigue  is  minimised  to  the  last 
degree  by  the  humour  one  gets  and  the  novel  changes 
one  meets  everywhere. 

Onward  again,  my  men  singing,  perhaps  quarrel- 
ling, always  swearing.  Their  language  is  low  and 
coarse  and  vulgar,  but  happily  ignorant  am  I. 

The  country,  too,  is  fascinating  in  the  extreme. 
A  man  must  not  come  to  China  for  pleasure  unless  he 
love  his  mistress  Nature  when  she  is  most  rudely  clad. 
Some  of  her  lovers  are  fascinated  most  in  by-places, 
in  the  cool  of  forests,  on  the  summit  of  lofty  moun- 
tains, high  up  from  the  mundane,  in  the  cleft  of 
cafions,  everywhere  that  the  careless  lover  is  not 
admitted  to  her  contemplation.  It  is  for  such  that 
China  holds  out  an  inviting  hand,  but  she  offers  little 
else  to  the  Westerner — the  student  of  Nature  and  of 
man  can  alone  be  happy  in  the  interior.  Forgetting 
time  and  the  life  of  my  own  world,  I  sometimes  come 

64 


CHUNG-KING   TO    SUI-FU. 

to  inviolate  stillnesses,  where  Nature  opens  her 
arms,  and  bewitchingly  promises  embraces  in  soft, 
unending,  undulating  vastnesses,  where  even  the 
watching  of  a  bird  building  its  nest  or  brooding  over 
its  young,  or  some  little  groundling  at  its  gracious 
play,  seems  to  hold  one  charmed  beyond  descrip- 
tion. It  is,  some  may  say,  a  nomadic  life.  Yes,  it  is 
a  nomadic  life.  But  how  beautiful  to  those  of  us, 
and  there  are  many,  who  love  less  the  man-made 
comforts  of  our  o\vn  small  life  than  the  entrancing 
wonders  of  the  God-made  world  in  spots  where 
nothing  has  changed.  Gladly  did  I  quit  the  dust 
and  din  of  Western  life,  of  the  artificialities  of  dress, 
and  the  unnumbered  futile  affectations  of  our  own 
maybe  not  misnamed  civilisation,  to  go  and  breathe 
freely  and  peacefully  in  those  far-off  nooks  of  the 
silent  mountain-tops  where  solitude  was  broken  only 
by  the  lulling  or  the  roaring  of  the  winds  of  heaven. 
Thank  God  there  are  these  uninvaded  corners.  The 
realm  of  silence  is,  after  all,  vaster  than  the  realm  of 
noise,  and  the  fact  brought  a  consolation,  as  one 
watched  Nature  affecting  a  sort  of  coquetry  in 
masking  her  operations. 

And  as  I  look  upon  it  all  I  wonder — wonder 
whether  with  the  "Opening  of  China"  this  must 
all  change  ? 

The  Chinese — I  refer  to  the  Chinese  of  interior 
provinces  such  as  Szech'wan — are  realising  that  they 
hold  an  obscure  position.  I  have  heard  educated 
Chinese  remark  that  they  look  upon  themselves  as 
lost,  like  shipwrecked  sailors,  whom  a  night  of  tem- 
pest has  cast  on  some  lonely  rock  ;  and  now  they  are 
having  recourse  to  cries,  volleys,  all  the  signals 
imaginable,  to  let  it  be  known  that  they  are  still 
there.     They  have  been  on  this  lonely  isolated  rock 

65 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

as  far  as  history  can  trace.  Now  they  are  launching 
out  towards  progress,  towards  the  making  of  things, 
towards  the  buying  and  selhng  of  things — launching 
out  in  trade  and  commerce,  in  politics,  in  literature, 
in  science,  in  all  that  has  spelt  advance  to  the  West. 
The  modem  spirit  is  spreading  speedily  into  the 
domains  of  life  everywhere — in  places  swiftly,  in 
places  slowly,  but  spreading  inevitably,  si  sit  pru- 
dentia. 

Nothing  will  tend,  in  this  particular  part  of  the 
country,  to  turn  it  upside  down  and  inside  out  more 
than  the  cult  of  industrialism.  In  a  number  of 
centres  in  Eastern  China,  such  as  Han-yang  and 
Shanghai,  foreign  mills,  iron  works,  and  so  on,  fur- 
nish new  employments,  but  in  the  interior  the 
machine  of  the  West  to  the  uneducated  Celestial 
seems  to  be  the  foe  of  his  own  tools ;  and  when  rail- 
ways and  steam  craft  appear — steam  has  appeared, 
of  course,  on  the  Upper  Yangtze,  although  it  has  not 
yet  taken  much  of  the  junk  trade,  and  Szech'wan  has 
her  railways  now  under  construction  (the  sod  was 
cut  at  Ichang  in  1909)* — and  a  single  train  and 
steamer  does  the  work  of  hundreds  or  thousands  of 
carters,  coolies,  and  boatmen,  it  is  wholly  natural 
that  their  imperfect  and  short-sighted  views  should 
lead  them  to  rise  against  a  seeming  new  peril. 

*  I  inspected  the  railway  at  Ichang  in  December,  19 10, 
and  found  that  a  remarkable  scheme  was  making  very 
creditable  progress.  Around  the  main  station  centre  there  was 
an  air  of  bustle  and  excitement,  some  20,000  coolies  were  in 
employment  there,  all  the  buildings  and  equipment  bore  evidences 
of  thoroughness,  and  the  scheme  seemed  to  be  going  on  well.  But 
in  January  of  this  year  (191 1)  a  meeting  was  held  at  Chen-tu, 
the  proposed  destination  of  the  line,  and  the  gentry  then  decided 
that  as  nothing  was  being  done  that  end  the  company  should  be 
requested  to  stop  work  at  Ichang,  and  start  laying  the  line  from 
Chen-tu,  at  the  other  end.  "  All  the  money  will  be  spent,"  they 
cried,  "  and  we  shall  get  nothing  up  this  end  !  "  If  the  money 
ran  out  and  left  the  central  portion  of  the  line  incomplete,  it  did 
not  matter  so  long  as  each  city  had  something  for  their  money  } 
— E.  J.  D. 

66 


CHUNG-KING    TO    SUI-FU. 

Whilst  in  the  end  the  Empire  will  profit  greatly  by 
the  inventions  of  the  Occident,  the  period  of  transi- 
tion in  Szech'wan,  especially  if  machines  are  intro- 
duced too  rapidly  and  unwisely,  is  one  that  will 
disturb  the  peace.  It  will  be  interesting  to  watch 
the  attitude  of  the  people  towards  the  railway,  for 
Szech'wan  is  essentially  the  province  of  the  farmer. 
Szech'wan  was  one  of  the  provinces  where  conces- 
sions were  demanded,  and  railways  had  been  planned 
by  European  syndicates,  and  where  the  gentry  and 
students  held  mass  meetings,  feverishly  declaring 
that  none  shall  build  Chinese  lines  but  the 
people  themselves.  I  have  no  space  in  a  work  of  this 
nature  to  go  fully  into  the  question  of  industrialism, 
railways,  and  other  matters  immediately  vital  to  the 
interests  of  China,  but  if  the  peace  of  China  is  to  be 
maintained,  it  is  incumbent  upon  every  foreigner  to 
"  go  slowly."  Machines  of  foreign  make  have 
before  now  been  scrapped,  railways  have  been  pulled 
up  and  thrown  into  the  sea,  telegraph  hues  have 
been  torn  down  and  sold,  and  on  every  hand  among 
this  wonderful  people  there  has  always  been  appar- 
ent a  distinct  hatred  to  things  and  ideas  foreign. 
But  industrially  particularly  the  benefits  of  the 
West  are  being  recognised  in  Eastern  China,  and 
gradually,  if  foreigners  who  have  to  do  the  pioneering 
are  tactful,  trust  in  the  foreign-manufactured 
machine  will  spread  to  Western  China,  and  enlarged 
industriahsm  will  bring  all-round  advantages  to 
Western  trade. 

Thus  far  there  has  been  little  shifting  of  the 
population  from  hamlets  and  villages  to  centres  of 
new  industries — even  in  the  more  forward  areas  quoted 
— but  when  this  process  begins  new  elements  will  enter 
into  the  Chinese  industrial  problem. 

.    67 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

As  we  hear  of  the  New  China,  so  is  there  a  "  new 
people,"  a  people  emboldened  by  the  examples  of 
officials  in  certain  areas  to  show  a  friendliness  to- 
wards progress  and  innovation  who  were  not  friendly 
a  decade  ago.  It  may,  perhaps,  be  said  that  this 
"  new  people  "  were  born  after  the  Boxer  troubles, 
and  in  Szech'wan  they  have  a  large  influence. 

Cotton  mills,  silk  filatures,  flour  and  rice  mills 
employing  western  machinery,  modern  mining  plants 
and  other  evidences  of  how  China  is  coming  out  of 
her  shell,  cause  one  to  rejoice  in  improved  conditions. 
The  animosity  occasioned  by  these  inventions  that 
are  being  so  gradually  and  so  surely  introduced 
into  every  nook  and  cranny  of  East  and  North 
China  is  very  marked ;  but  on  close  inspection,  and 
after  one  has  made  a  study  of  the  subject,  one  is 
inchned  to  feel  that  it  is  more  or  less  theoretical.  So 
it  is  to  be  hoped  it  will  be  in  Szech'wan  and  Far 
Western  China. 

Readers  may  wonder  at  the  differences  of  opinions 
expressed  in  the  course  of  these  pages — a  hundred 
pages  on  one  may  get  a  totally  different  impression. 
But  the  absolute  differences  of  conditions  existing 
are  as  remarkable.  From  Chung-king  to  Sui-fu  one 
breathed  an  air  of  progress — after  one  had  made 
allowance  for  the  antagonistic  circumstances  under 
which  China  lives — a  manifest  desire  on  every  hand 
for  things  foreign,  and  a  most  lively  and  intelligent 
interest  in  what  the  foreigner  could  bring.  In  many 
parts  of  Yiin-nan,  again,  conditions  were  completely 
reversed  ;  and  one  finding  himself  in  Yiin-nan,  after 
having  lived  for  some  time  at  a  port  in  the  east  of  the 
Empire,  would  assuredly  find  himself  surrounded  by 
everything  antagonistic  to  that  to  which  he  has  become 
accustomed,  and  the  people  would  seem  of  a  different 

68 


CHUNG-KING   TO    SUI-FU. 

race.  This  may  be  due  to  the  differences  of  climate 
— climate,  indeed,  is  ultimately  the  first  and  the  last  / 
word  in  the  East  ;  it  is  the  arbiter,  the  builder,  the 
disintegrator  of  everything.  A  leading  writer  on 
Eastern  affairs  says  that  the  "  climate  is  the  explana- 
tion of  all  the  history  of  Asia,  and  the  peoples  of  the 
East  can  only  be  understood  and  accounted  for  by 
the  measuring  of  the  heat  of  the  sun's  rays.  In 
China,  with  climate  and  weather  charts  in  your 
hands,  you  may  travel  from  the  Red  River  on  the 
Yiin-nan  frontier  to  the  great  Sungari  in  lusty 
Manchuria,  and  be  able  to  understand  and  account  | 
for  everything."  — I 

However  that  may  be,  travelling  in  China,  through 
a  wonderful  province  like  Szech'wan,  whose  chief 
entrepot  is  fifteen  hundred  miles  from  the  coast, 
convinces  one  that  she  has  come  to  the  parting  of 
the  ways.  You  can,  in  any  city  or  village  in  Szech- 
wan — or  in  Yiin-nan,  for  that  matter,  in  a  lesser 
degree — always  find  the  new  nationalism  in  the  form 
of  the  "  New  China  "  student.  Despite  the  opposi- 
tion he  gets  from  the  old  school,  and  although  the  old 
order  of  things,  by  being  so  strong  as  almost  to  over- 
whelm him,  allows  him  to  make  less  progress  than  he 
would,  this  new  student,  the  hope  of  the  Empire,  is 
there.  I  do  not  wish  to  enter  into  a  controversy 
on  this  subject,  but  I  should  like  to  quote  the  follow- 
ing from  a  speech  delivered  by  Tseh  Ch'un  Hsiian, 
when  he  was  leaving  his  post  as  Governor  of 
Szech'wan : — 

"  The  officials  of  China  are  gradually  acquiring  a 
knowledge  of  the  great  principles  of  the  religions  of 
Europe  and  America.  And  the  churches  are  also 
labouring  night  and  day  to  readjust  their  methods, 
and  to  make  known  their  aims  in  their  propagation 

69 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

of  religion.  Consequently,  Chinese  and  foreigners 
are  coming  more  and  more  into  cordial  relations. 
This  fills  me  with  joy  and  hopefulness.  .  .  .  My 
hope  is  that  the  teachers  of  both  countries  [Great 
Britain  and  America]  will  spread  the  Gospel  more 
widely  than  ever,  that  hatred  may  be  banished,  and 
disputes  dispelled,  and  that  the  influence  of  the 
Gospel  may  create  boundless  happiness  for  my 
people  of  China.  And  I  shall  not  be  the  only  one  to 
thank  you  for  coming  to  the  front  in  this  good 
work.     .     .     .     May  the  Gospel  prosper  !  " 

There  are  various  grades  of  people  in  China, 
among  which  the  scholar  has  always  come  first, 
because  mind  is  superior  to  wealth,  and  it  is  the 
intellect  that  distinguishes  man  above  the  lower 
order  of  beings,  and  enables  him  to  provide 
food  and  raiment  and  shelter  for  himself  and  for 
others.  At  the  time  when  Europe  was  thrilled  and 
cut  to  the  quick  with  news  of  the  massacres  of  her 
compatriots  in  the  Boxer  revolts,  the  scholar  was  a 
dull,  stupid  fellow — day  in  day  out,  week  in  week  out, 
month  in  month  out,  and  year  after  year  he  ground 
at  his  classics.  His  classics  were  the  Alpha  and 
Omega ;  he  worshipped  them.  This  era  has  now 
passed  away. 

At  the  present  moment  there  are  upwards  of  twenty 
thousand  Chinese  scholars  in  Tokyo* — whither  they 
went  because  Japan  is  the  most  convenient  country 
wherein  to  acquire  Western  knowledge.  The  new 
learning,  the  new  learning — they  must  have  the  new 
learning  !  No  high  office  is  ever  again  likely  to  be 
given  but  to  him  who  has  more  of  Western  know" 
ledge  than  Chinese  knowledge.     And  mere  striplings, 

*  This  is  not  true  to-day.  There  has  been  a  great  falling  off  in 
numbers. — E.  J.  D.,  February,  191 1. 

70 


CHUNG-KING    TO    SUI-FU. 

nursed  in  the  lap  of  the  mission  schools,  and  there 
given  a  good  grounding  in  Western  education,  these 
are  the  men  far  more  likely  to  pass  the  new  examina- 
tions. In  Yiin-nan,  where  little  chance  exists  for 
the  scholars  to  advance,  the  new  learning  has  brought 
with  it  a  revolutionary  element,  which  would  soon 
become  dangerous  were  it  by  any  means  common. 
I  have  seen  an  English-speaking  fellow,  anxious  to 
get  on  and  under  the  impression  that  the  laws  of  his 
country  were  responsible  for  keeping  him  back,  write 
in  the  back  of  his  exercise  book  a  phrase  against  the 
imperial  ruler  that  would  have  cost  him  his  head 
had  it  come  to  the  notice  of  the  high  authorities. 

One  will  learn  much  if  he  travels  across  the  Empire 
— facts  and  figures  quite  irreconcilable  will  arise,  but 
even  the  man  of  dullest  perception  will  be  convinced 
that  much  of  the  reforming  spirit  in  the  people  is 
only  skin-deep,  going  no  farther  than  the  externals 
of  life.  It  is  at  present,  perhaps,  merely  a  mad  fer- 
mentation in  the  western  provinces,  wherefrom  the 
fiercer  it  is  the  clearer  the  product  will  one  day  evolve 
itself.  Such  transitions  are  full  of  bewilderment  to 
the  European — bewildering  to  any  writer  who  en- 
deavours to  tackle  the  Empire  as  a  whole.  Each 
province  or  couple  of  provinces  should  be  dealt 
with  separately,  so  diverse  are  the  conditions. 

But  if  only  China,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest, 
will  embrace  truth  and  love  her  for  her  own  sake,  so 
that  she  will  not  abate  one  jot  of  allegiance  to  her; 
if  China  will  let  truth  run  down  through  the  arteries 
of  everyday  commercial,  social,  and  political  life  as 
do  the  waterways  through  her  marvellous  country  ; 
if  China  will  kill  her  retardative  conservatism,  and 
in  its  place  erect  honesty  and  conscience  ;  if  China 
will  let  her  moral  hfe  be  quickened — then  her  transi- 

71 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

tion  period,  from  end  to  end  of  the  Empire,  will  soon 
end.  Mineral,  agricultural,  industrial  wealth  are 
hers  to  a  degree  which  is  not  true  of  any  other  land. 
Her  people  have  an  enduring  and  expansive  power 
that  has  stood  the  test  of  more  than  four  thousand 
years  of  honourable  history,  and  their  activity  and 
efficiency  outside  China  make  them  more  to  be 
dreaded  than  any  race  or  any  dozen  races  of  to-day. 

But  New  China  must  have  this  new  life. 

Commerce,  science,  diplomacy,  culture,  civilisa- 
tion she  will  have  in  ever-increasing  measure  just  in 
so  much  as  she  draws  nearer  to  western  peoples. 
But  the  new  life  can  come  from  whence  ?  From 
within  or  from  without  ?  From  her  religions  or 
from  other  religions  ?  Confucianism,  Buddhism, 
Taoism — these  have  given  her  nothing.  She  needs 
a  Christian  conscience,  and  can  this  come  from  any- 
thing but  from  Christianity  ? 

My  opinion  is  that  Christianity  is  her  key.  With 
it  she  will  become  perhaps  the  foremost  empire 
of  the  world.     But  without  it  she  is  lost. 

Luchow,  into  which  I  was  led  just  before  noon  on 
the  fourth  day  out  of  Chung-king,  is  the  most  populous 
and  richest  city  on  the  Upper  Yangtze. 

Exceedingly  clean  for  a  Chinese  city,  possessing 
well-kept  streets  lined  with  well-stocked  emporiums, 
bearing  every  evidence  of  commercial  prosperity,  it 
however  lacks  one  thing.  It  has  no  hotel  runners  1 
I  arrived  at  midday,  crossing  the  river  in  a  leaky 
ferry  boat,  under  a  blazing  sun,  my  intention  being  to 
stop  in  the  town  at  a  tea-house  to  take  a  refresher, 
and  then  complete  a  long  day's  march,  farther  than 
the  ordinary  stage.  But  owing  to  some  misunder- 
standing between  the  fusong,  sent  to  shadow  the 

72 


CHUNG-KING    TO    SUI-FU. 

foreigner  on  part  of  his  journey,  and  my  boy,  I  was 
led  through  the  busy  city  out  into  the  open  country 
before  I  had  had  a  drink.  And  when  I  remonstrated 
they  led  me  back  again  to  the  best  inn,  where  I  was 
told  I  should  have  to  stay  the  night — there  being 
nothing  else,  then,  to  be  said. 

May  I  give  a  word  of  advice  here  to  any  reader 
contemplating  a  visit  to  China  under  similar  con- 
ditions ?  It  is  the  custom  of  the  mandarins  to  send 
what  is  called  a  fusong  (escort)  for  you  ;  the  escort 
comes  from  the  military,  although  the  appearance  of 
the  people  may  lead  you  to  doubt  it.  I  have  two  of 
these  soldier  people  with  me  to-day,  and  two  bigger 
raggamuffins  it  has  not  been  my  lot  to  cast  eyes  on. 
They  are  the  only  two  men  in  the  crowd  I  am  afraid 
of.  They  are  of  absolutely  no  use,  more  than  to  eat 
and  to  drink,  and  always  come  up  smiling  at  the  end 
of  their  stage  for  their  kumshaw.  During  the  whole 
of  this  day  I  have  not  seen  one  of  them — they  have 
been  behind  the  caravan  all  the  time ;  it  would 
be  hard  to  believe  that  they  had  sense  enough  to  find 
the  way,  and  as  for  escorting  me,  they  have  not 
accompanied  me  a  single  li  of  the  way.* 

Another  nuisance,  of  which  I  have  already  spoken, 
is  the  necessity  of  taking  a  chair  to  maintain  respect- 
ability. These  things  make  travel  in  China  not  so 
cheap  as  one  would  be  led  to  imagine.  Travelling 
of  itself  is  cheap  enough,  as  cheap  as  in  any  country 
in  the  world.  For  accommodation  for  myself,  for 
a  room,  rice  and  as  much  hot  water  as  I  want,  the 
charge  is  a  couple  of  hundred  cash — certainly  not 
expensive.      In  addition,  there  is  generally  a  little 

*  This  should  not  be  taken  to  apply  to  the  fusong  every- 
where. I  have  found  them  to  be  most  useful  on  other  occasions, 
but  the  above  was  written  at  Luchow  as  my  experience  of  tliat 
particular  day. — E.  J.  D. 

73 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

"  cha  tsien  "  (tea  money)  for  the  cook.  But  it  is  the 
"face"  which  makes  away  with  the  money,  much 
more  than  it  takes  to  keep  you  in  the  luxury  that 
the  countr}^  can  offer — which  is  not  much ! 

After  I  had  had  a  bit  of  a  discussion  with  my  boy 
as  to  the  room  they  wanted  to  house  me  in,  a  woman, 
b)randishing  a  huge  cabbage  stump  above  her  head, 
and  looking  menacingly  at  me,  yelled  that  the  room 
was  good  enough. 

"  What  does  she  say,  T'ong  ?  " 

"  Oh,  she  b'long  all  same  fool,  She  wantchee 
makee  talkee  talk.  She  have  got  velly  long  tongue, 
makee  bad  woman.  She  say  one  piecee  Japan  man 
makee  stay  here  free  night.  See  ?  She  say  what 
makee  good  one  piecee  Japan  man  makee  good  one 
piecee  English  man.  See  ?  No  have  got  topside, 
all  same  bottomside  have  got.  Master,  this  no 
b'long  my  pidgin — this  b'long  woman  pidgin,  and 
woman  b'long  all  same  fool."  T'ong  ended  up  with 
an  amusing  allusion  to  the  lady's  mother,  and  looked 
cross  because  I  rebuked  him. 

Gathering,  then,  that  the  lady  thought  her  room 
good  enough  for  me,  I  saw  no  other  course  open, 
and  as  the  crowd  was  gathering,  I  got  inside. 
Before  setting  out  to  call  upon  the  Canadian  mis- 
sionaries stationed  at  the  place,  I  held  a  long 
conversation  with  a  hump-backed  old  man,  an 
unsightly  mass  of  disease,  who  seemed  to  be  a 
traditional  link  of  Luchow.  I  might  say  that 
this  scholastic  old  wag  spoke  nothing  but  Chinese, 
and  I,  as  the  reader  knows,  spoke  no  Chinese, 
so  that  the  amount  of  general  knowledge  derived 
one  from  the  other  was  therefore  limited.  But 
he  would  not  go,  despite  the  frequent  depreca- 
tions of  T'ong  and  my  coohes,  and  my  vehement 

74 


m^^^. 


U 


Oynaiiicntal  ayckway  in  the  gardens  of  the   Yiin-nan  Guild, 
at  Sui-fn,  SzecKwan. 


'  Chinese  method  of  torture. 

The  victim   is  generally  strung  up  by  the   thumbs.      The  above  shows   the 
barbaric  device,  arranged  for  the  convenience  of  the  photographer. 


■i2 


*iO 


s> 


■^ 

■^ 

^ 


CHUNG-KING   TO    SUI-FU. 

rhetoric  in  explanation  that  his  presence  was  dis- 
tasteful to  me,  and  at  the  end  of  the  episode  I  found 
it  imperative  for  my  own  safety,  and  perhaps  for 
his,  to  clear  out. 

The  Canadians  I  found  in  their  Chinese-built 
premises,  comfortable  albeit.  Five  of  them  were 
resident  at  the  time,  and  they  were  quite  pleased 
with  the  work  they  had  done  during  the  last  year  or 
so — most  of  them  were  new  to  China.  At  the  China 
Inland  Mission  later  I  found  two  young  Scotsmen 
getting  some  exercise  by  throwing  a  cricket  ball  at  a 
stone  wall,  in  a  compound  about  twenty  feet  square. 
They  were  glad  to  see  me,  one  of  them  kindly  gave 
me  a  hair-cut,  and  at  their  invitation  I  stayed  the 
night  with  them. 


;m  ' 


What  is  it  in  the  Chinese  nature  which  makes  them 
appear  to  be  so  totally  oblivious  to  the  best  they  see 
in  their  own  country  ? 

It  is  surely  not  because  they  are  not  as  sensitive 
as  other  races  to  the  magic  of  beauty  in  either  nature 
or  art.  But  I  found  travelling  and  living  with  such 
apparently  unsympathetic  creatures  exasperating  to 
a  degree,  and  I  did  not  wonder  that  the  European 
whose  lot  had  been  cast  in  the  interior,  sometimes, 
on  emerging  into  Western  civilisation,  appears  eccen- 
tric to  his  own  countrymen.     But  this  in  passing.    ^ 

I  duly  arrived  at  Lan-chi'-hsien,  and  was  told  that 
Sui-fu,  120  li  away,  would  be  reached  the  next  day, 
although  I  had  my  doubts.  A  deputation  from  the 
local  "  gwan  "  waited  upon  me  to  learn  my  wishes 
and  to  receive  my  commands.  I  was  assured  that 
no  European  ever  walked  to  Sui-fu  from  Lan-chi- 
hsien,  and  that  if  I  attempted  to  do  such  a  thing  I 

75 


ACROSS    CHINA    OX    FOOT. 

should  have  to  go  alone,  and  that  I  should  never 
reach  there.  I  remonstrated,  but  m}'  boy  was  firm. 
He  took  me  to  him  and  fathered  me.  He  almost 
cried  over  me,  to  think  that  I,  that  I,  his  master,  of 
all  people  in  the  world,  should  doubt  his  allegiance 
to  me.  "  I  no  'fraid,"  he  declared.  "  P'laps  master 
no  savee.  Sui-fu  b'long  velly  big  place,  have  got 
plenty  European.  You  wantchee  makee  go  fast, 
catchee  plenty  good  '  chow.'  I  think  you  catchee 
one  piecee  boat,  makee  go  up  the  river.  P'laps  I 
think  you  have  got  velly  tired — no  wantchee  makee 
more  walkee — that  no  b'long  ploper.  That  b'long 
all  same  fool  pidgin." 

And  at  last  I  melted.  There  was  nothing  else  to 
do. 

That  no  one  ever  walked  to  Sui-fu  from  this  place 
the  district  potentate  assured  me  in  a  private  chit, 
which  I  could  not  read,  when  he  laid. his  gunboat 
at  my  disposal. 

This,  he  said,  would  take  me  up  very  quickly.  In 
his  second  note,  wherein  he  apologised  that  indisposi- 
tion kept  him  from  calling  personally  upon  me — 
this,  of  course,  was  a  lie — he  said  he  would  feel  it  an 
honour  if  I  would  be  pleased  to  accept  the  use  of  his 
contemptible  boat.  But  T'ong  whispered  that  the 
law  uses  these  terms  in  China,  and  that  nobody 
would  be  more  disappointed  than  the  Chinese  magis- 
trate if  I  did  take  advantage  of  his  unmeaning  offer. 
So  I  took  a  wu-pan,  and  the  following  night,  when 
pulling  into  the  shadows  of  the  Sui-fu  pagoda,  cold 
and  hungry,  I  cursed  my  luck  that  I  had  not  broken 
down  the  useless  etiquette  which  these  Chinese 
officials  extend  towards  foreigners,  and  taken  the 
fellow's  gunboat. 

The  wu-pan,  they  swore  to  me,  would  be  ready 

76 


CHUNG-KING   TO    SUI-FU. 

to  leave  at  3.30  a.m.  the  day  following.  My 
boy  did  not  venture  to  sleep  at  all.  He  stayed  up 
outside  my  bedroom  door — I  say  bedroom,  but 
actually  it  was  an  apartment  which  in  Europe  I 
would  not  put  a  horse  into,  and  the  door  was  merely 
a  wide,  worm-eaten  board  placed  on  end.  In  the 
middle  of  the  night  I  heard  a  noise — yea,  a  rattle. 
The  said  board  fell  down,  inwards,  almost  upon 
me.  A  light  was  flashed  swiftly  into  my  eyes,  and 
desultory  remarks  which  suddenly  escaped  me  were 
rudely  interrupted  by  shrill  screams.  My  boy  was 
singing. 

"  Master,"  he  cried,  pulling  hard-heartedly  at  my 
left  big  toe  to  wake  me,  "  come  on,  come  on  ;  you 
wantchee  makee  get  up.  Have  got  two  o'clock. 
Get  up  ;  p'laps  me  no  wakee  you,  no  makee  sleep — 
no  b'long  ploper.  One  man  makee  go  bottomside — 
have  catchee  boat.  This  morning  no  have  got  tea — 
no  can  catch  hot  water  makee  boil." 

And  soon  we  were  ready  to  start.  Punctually  to 
the  appointed  hour  we  were  at  the  bottom  of  the 
steep,  dark  inchne  leading  down  to  the  river  bank. 

But  my  reckonings  were  bad. 

The  laohan  and  the  other  two  youthful  members 
of  the  half-witted  crew  had  not  yet  taken  their 
"  chow,"  and  this,  added  to  many  little  discrepancies 
in  their  reckoning  and  in  mine,  kept  me  in  a  boiling 
rage  until  half -past  six,  when  at  last  they  pushed 
off,  and  nearly  capsized  the  boat  at  the  outset.  The 
details  of  that  early  morning,  and  the  happenings 
throughout  the  long,  sad  day,  I  think  I  can  never 
forget — from  the  breaking  of  tow-lines  to  frequent 
stranding  on  the  rocks  and  sticking  on  sandbanks, 
the  orders  wrongly  given,  the  narrow  escape  of  fire 
on  board,  the  bland  thick-headedness  of  the  £iss  of  a 

77 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

captain,  the  collisions,  and  all  the  most  profound 
examples  of  savage  ignorance  displayed  when  one 
has  foolish  Chinese  to  deal  with.  We  reached 
half-way  at  4.30  p.m.,  with  sixty  li  to  do  against  a 
wind.  Hour  after  hour  they  toiled,  making  little 
headway  with  their  misdirected  labour,  wasting 
their  energies  in  doing  the  right  things  at  the  wrong 
time,  and  wrong  things  always,  and  long  after  sun- 
down Sui-fu's  pagoda  loomed  in  the  distance.  At 
II. 0  p.m.,  stiff  and  hungry,  and  mad  with  rage,  I 
was  groping  my  way  on  all  fours  up  the  slippery 
steps  through  unspeakable  slime  and  filth  at  the 
quayhead,  only  to  be  led  to  a  disgusting  inn  as  dirty 
as  anything  I  had  yet  encountered.  It  was  hard 
lines,  for  I  could  get  no  food. 

An  invitation,  however,  was  given  me  by  the 
Rev.  R.  Mclntyre,  who  with  his  charming  wife 
conducts  the  China  Inland  Mission  in  this  city,  to 
come  and  stay  with  them.  The  next  morning,  after 
a  sleepless  night  of  twisting  and  turning  on  a  bug- 
infested  bed,  I  was  glad  to  take  advantage  of  the 
missionary's  kindness.  I  could  not  have  been  given 
a  kindlier  welcome. 

Sui-fu  has  a  population  of  roughly  150,000,  and 
the  overcrowding  question  is  not  the  least  important. 
It  is  situated  to  advantage  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Yangtze,  and  does  an  immense  trade  in  medicines, 
opium,*  silk,  furs,  silverwork,  and  white  wax,  which 
are  the  chief  exports.  Gunboats  regularly  come  to 
Sui-fu  during  the  heavy  rains. 

After  leaving  the  city,  a  large  area  is  taken  up  with 
grave  mounds — common  with  nearly  every  Chinese 
city.  Mr.  Mclntyre  and  Mr.  Herbert,  who  was 
passing  through  Sui-fu  en  route  for  Ta-chien-lu,  where 

*  Opium  is  not  now  grown  to  any  extent  in  Szech'wan. — E.  J.  D. 

78 


CHUNG-KING    TO    SUI-FU. 

he  is  now  working,  showed  me  round  the  city  one 
afternoon,  and  one  could  see  everything  typical  of 
the  social  life  of  two  thousand  years  ago.  The  same 
narrow  lanes  succeed  each  other,  and  the  conviction 
is  gradually  impressed  upon  the  mind  that  such  is 
the  general  trend  of  the  character  of  the  city  and  its 
people.  There  were  the  same  busy  mechanics, 
barbers,  traders,  wayside  cooks,  travelling  fortune- 
tellers, and  lusty  coolies  ;  the  wag  doctor,  the  bane 
of  the  gullible,  was  there  to  drive  his  iniquitous 
living  ;  now  and  then  the  scene's  monotony  was  dis- 
turbed by  the  presence  of  the  chair  and  the  retinue 
of  a  city  mandarin.  Yet  with  all  the  hurry  and  din, 
the  hurrying  and  the  scurr3dng  in  doing  and  driving 
for  making  money,  seldom  was  there  an  accident  or 
interruption  of  good  nature  There  was  the  same 
romance  in  the  streets  that  one  read  of  at  school — 
so  much  alike  and  yet  so  different  to  what  one 
meets  in  the  Chinese  places  at  the  coast  or  in  Hong- 
Kong  or  Singapore.  In  Sui-fu,  more  than  in  any 
other  town  in  Western  China  which  I  visited,  had 
the  native  artist  seemed  to  have  lavished  his  in- 
genuity on  the  street  signboards.  Their  caligraphy 
gave  the  most  humorous  intimation  of  the  superiority 
of  the  wares  on  sale  ;  many  of  them  contained  some 
fictitious  emblem,  adopted  as  the  name  of  the  shop,, 
similar  to  the  practice  adopted  in  London  two  cen- 
turies ago,  and  so  common  now  in  the  Straits 
Settlements,  where  bankrupts  are  allowed  consider- 
ably more  freedom  than  would  be  possible  if  fictitious 
registration  were  not  allowed.  I  refer  to  the  Regis- 
tration of  Partnerships. 


79 


FOURTH    JOURNEY. 

SUI-FU   TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU 
(VIA    LAO-W^A-T'AN). 

CHAPTER    Vn. 

Chinese  and  simplicity  of  speech.  Author  and  his  caravan 
stopped.  Advice  to  travellers.  Farewell  to  Siii-fu.  The 
postal  service  and  tribute  to  I. P.O.  Rushing  the  stages. 
Details  of  journey.  Description  of  road  to  Chao-t'ong-fu. 
Coolie's  pay.  My  boy  steals  vegetables.  Remarks  on  roads 
and  railways.  The  real  Opening  of  China.  How  the 
foreigner  will  win  the  confidence  of  the  Chinese.  Distances 
and  their  variability .  Calculations  uprooted.  Author  in  a 
dilemma.  The  scenery.  Hard  going.  A  wayside  toilet, 
and  some  embarrassment.  Filth  inseparable  from  Chinese 
humanity.  About  Chinese  inns.  Typewriter  causes  some 
fun.  Soldiers  guard  my  doorway.  Man's  own  "  inner 
room."  One  hundred  and  forty  li  in  a  day.  Grandeur 
and  solitude.  Wisdom  of  travelling  alone.  Coolie  nearly 
cuts  his  toe  off.  Street  scene  at  Puerh-tu.  The  "  dying  " 
coolie.  A  manacled  prisoner.  Entertained  by  mandarins. 
How  plans  do  not  work  out. 

He  who  would  make  most  abundant  excuses  for  the 
Chinaman  could  not  say  that  he  is  simple  in  his 
speech. 

That  speech  is  the  chief  revelation  of  the  mind, 
the  first  visible  form  that  it  takes,  is  undoubtedly 
true  of  the  West  :  as  the  thought,  so  the  speech. 
All  social  relations  with  us  have  their  roots  in  mutual 
trust,  and  this  trust  is  maintained  by  each  man's 
sincerity  of  thought  and  speech.  Not  so  in  China. 
There  is  so  much  craft,  so  much  diplomacy,  so  much 
subtle  legerdemain  that,  if  he  chooses,  the  Chinaman 

80 


SUI-FU    TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

may  give  you  no  end  of  trouble  to  inform  yourself 
on  the  simplest  subject.  The  Chinese,  like  so  many 
cavillers  and  calumniators,  all  glib  of  tongue,  who 
know  better  than  any  nation  on  earth  how  to  turn 
voice  and  pen  to  account,  have  taken  the  utmost 
advantage  of  extended  means  of  circulating  thought, 
with  the  result  that  an  Englishman  such  as  myself, 
even  were  I  a  deep  scholar  of  their  language,  would 
have  the  greatest  difficulty  in  getting  at  the  truth  i 
about  their  own  affairs.  ^        j 

As  I  was  going  out  of  Sui-fu  my  caravan  and 
myself  were  delayed  by  some  fellow,  who  held  the 
attention  of  my  men  for  a  full  quarter  of  an  hour, 
I  listened,  understanding  nothing.  After  another 
five  minutes,  by  which  time  the  conversation  had 
assumed  what  I  considered  dangerous  proportions, 
and  having  the  safety  of  my  boy  at  heart,  I  asked — 

"  T'ong,  what  is  it  ?  " 

"  Half  a  sec,"  he  replied  (having  learnt  this 
phrase  from  the  gunboat  men  down  the  river). 
He  did  not,  however,  take  his  eyes  from  the  man 
with  whom  he  was  holding  the  conversation.  He 
then  dived  into  my  food-basket,  wrenched  off  the 
top  of  a  tin,  and  pulled  therefrom  two  beautifully- 
marked  live  pigeons,  which  flapped  their  wings 
helplessly  to  get  away,  and  resumed  the  conversa- 
tion. Talk  waxed  furious,  the  birds  were  placed 
by  the  side  of  the  road,  and  T'ong,  now  white  with 
seeming  rage,  threatened  to  hit  the  man.  It  turned 
out  that  the  plaintiff  was  the  seller  of  the  birds, 
and  that  T'ong  had  got  them  too  cheap. 

"  That  man  no  savee.  He  thinkee  you,  master, 
have  got  plenty  money.  He  b'long  all  same  rogue. 
I  no  b'long  fool.     I  know,  I  know." 

As  the  cover  of  the  food-basket  was  closed  down 

8i 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

I  noticed  a  cooked  fowl,  two  live  pheasants  with 
their  legs  tied  together,  a  pair  of  my  own  muddy 
boots,  a  pair  of  dancing  pumps,  and  a  dirty  collar, 
all  in  addition  to  my  little  luxuries  and  the  two 
pigeons  aforesaid.  Reader,  if  thou  would'st  travel 
in  China,  peep  not  into  thy  hoh  sh'ih  Ian  ts'i  if  thou 
would'st  feed  well. 

T'ong,  laughing  derisively,  waved  fond  and 
fantastic  salutations  to  the  disappointed  vendor  of 
pigeons,  and  moved  backwards  on  tiptoe  till  he  could 
see  him  no  more ;  then  we  went  noiselessly  down  a 
steep  inchne  out  into  an  open  space  of  distracted  and 
dishevelled  beauty  on  our  way  to  Chao-t'ong-fu. 

From  Chung-king  I  had  stuck  to  the  regular 
stages.  I  had  done  no  husthng,  but  I  decided  to 
rush  it  to  Chao-t'ong  if  I  could,  as  the  reports  I 
heard  about  being  overtaken  by  the  rains  in  Yiin- 
nan  were  rather  disquieting.  I  had  taken  to  Sui-fu 
three  times  as  long  as  the  regular  mail  time,  the 
.'service  of  which  is  excellent.  Chung-king  has  no 
less  than  six  local  deliveries  daily,  thus  eliminating 
delays  after  the  delivery  of  the  mails,  and  a  daily 
service  to  the  coast  has  also  been  estabhshed.  A 
fast  overland  service  to  Wan  Hsien  now  exists,  by 
which  the  coast  mails  are  transmitted  between  that 
port  and  Chung-king  in  the  hitherto  unheard-of 
time  of  two  days — a  traveller  considers  himself 
fortunate  if  he  covers  the  same  distance  in  eight 
days.  There  are  fast  daily  services  to  Luchow  (380  li 
distant)  in  one  day,  Sui-fu  (655  li)  in  two  days, 
Hochow  (180  li)  in  one  night,  and  Chen-tu  (1,020  li) 
in  three  days.  It  is  creditable  to  the  Chinese 
Imperial  Post  Office  that  a  letter  posted  at  Sui-fu 
jwiU  be  deliveied  in  Great  Britain  in  a  month's  tim.e. 

It  was  a  dull,  chilly  morning  that   I  left  Sui-fu, 

82 


Hill  scenery  fast  Siii-fii. 


Minoy  iduls  in  a  wayside  temple. 


t^O 


■^ 


3  jj 


O. 


SUI-FU    TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

leading  my  little  procession  through  the  city  on  my 
way  to  Anpien,  which  was  to  be  reached  before 
sundown.  My  coolies — probably  owing  to  having 
derived  more  pecuniary  advantage  than  they 
expected  during  the  journey  from  Chung-king — 
decided  to  re-engage,  and  promised  to  complete  the 
fourteen-day  tramp  to  Chao-t'ong-fu,  two  hundred 
and  ninety  miles  distant,  if  weather  permitted,  in 
eleven  days.  We  were  to  travel  by  the  following 
stages  : — 


1st  day — Anpien 

2nd  day — Huan-chiang 

3rd  day — Fan-ih-ts'uen 

4th  day — T'an-t'eo     .  . 

5th  day — Lao-wa-t'an 

6th  day — Teo-sha-kwan 

7th  day — Ch'i-li-p'u    . . 

8th  day — Ta-wan-tsi 

9th  day — Ta-kwan-ting 

loth  day — Wuchai 

nth  da}^ — Chao-t'ong-fu 


Length  of 

Height 

stage. 

above  sea. 

90  H    . 

55  li  . 

70  h   . 



70  h   , 

140  h   . 

.    1,140     ft. 

60  h   . 

.    4,000     ft. 

60  h   . 

.    1,900     ft. 

70  h   . 

70  h   . 

.    3700     ^t. 

60  h   . 

.    7,000     ft. 

100  li    . 

.    6,400     ft. 

I  knew  that  I  was  in  for  a  very  hard  journey. 
The  nature  of  the  country  as  far  as  T'an-t'eo,  ten  li 
this  side  of  which  the  Szech'wan  border  is  reached, 
is  not  exhausting,  although  the  traveller  is  offered 
some  rough  and  wild  climbing.  The  next  day's 
stage,  to  Lao-wa-t'an,  is  miserably  bad.  At  certain 
places  it  is  cut  out  of  the  rock,  at  others  it 
runs  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  which  is  dotted  every- 
where with  roaring  rapids  (as  we  are  ascending  very 
quickly) ,  and  when  the  water  is  high  these  roads  are 
submerged  and  often  impassable.  In  some  places 
it  was  a  six-inch  path  along  the  mountain  slope. 


83 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

with  a  gradient  of  from  sixty  to  seventy  degrees, 
and  landslips  and  rains  are  ever  changing  the  path. 

Lao-wa-t'an  is  the  most  important  point  on  the 
route.  One  of  the  largest  Customs  stations  in  the 
province  of  Yiin-nan  is  here  situated  at  the  east  end 
of  a  one-span  suspension  bridge,  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  in  length.  No  ponies  carrying  loads  are 
allowed  to  cross  the  bridge,  the  roads  east  of  this 
being  unfit  for  beasts  of  burden.  There  is  then 
a  fearful  climb  to  a  place  called  Teo-sha-kwan,  a 
stage  of  only  sixty  li.  The  reader  should  not  men- 
tally reduce  this  to  English  miles,  for  the  march  was 
more  hke  fifty  miles  than  thirty,  if  we  consider  the 
physical  exertion  required  to  scale  the  treacherous 
roads.  Over  a  broad,  zigzagging,  roughly-paved 
road,  said  to  have  no  less  than  ninety-eight  curves 
from  bottom  to  top,  we  ascend  for  thirty  li,  and  then 
descend  for  the  remainder  of  the  journey  through  a 
narrow  defile  along  the  northern  bank  of  the  river, 
the  opposite  side  being  a  vertical  sheet  of  rock 
rising  to  at  least  a  thousand  feet  sheer  up,  very 
similar  to  the  gorges  of  the  Mekong  at  the  western 
end  of  the  province,  which  I  crossed  in  due  course. 

To  Ch'i-li-p'u,  high  up  on  the  mountain  banks,  the 
first  twenty-five  li  is  by  the  river.  At  the  half-way 
place  a  fearful  ascent  is  experienced,  the  most 
notable  precipice  on  the  route  between  Sui-fu  and 
Yiin-nan-fu,  up  a  broad  zigzag  path,  and  as  I  sat 
at  dinner  I  could  see  neither  top  nor  bottom  owing  to 
the  overhanging  masses  of  rock  :  this  is  after  having 
negotiated  an  ascent  quite  as  steep,  but  smaller.  To 
Ta-kwan-hsien  a  few  natural  obstacles  occur,  although 
the  road  is  always  high  up  on  the  hillsides.  I 
crossed  a  miserable  suspension  bridge  of  two  spans. 
The  southern  span  is  about  thirty  feet,  the  northern 

84 


SUI-FU    TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

span  eighty  feet  ;  the  centre  is  supported  by  a 
buttress  of  splendid  blocks  of  squared  stone,  resting 
on  the  rock  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  one  side  being 
considerably  worn  away  by  the  action  of  the  water. 
The  longer  span  was  hung  very  slack,  the  wood- 
work forming  the  pathway  was  not  too  safe, 
and  the  general  shaky  appearance  was  particularly 
uninviting. 

From  Ta-kwan-hsien  to  Wuchai  is  steady  pulhng. 
Once  in  an  opening  in  the  hill  we  passed  along  and 
then  ascended  an  exceedingly  steep  spur  on  one  side 
of  a  narrow  and  very  deep  natural  amphitheatre, 
formed  by  surrounding  mountains.  We  then  came 
to  a  lagoon,  and  eventually  the  brow  of  the  hill  was 
reached.  Thus  the  Wuchai  Valley  is  arrived  at, 
where,  owing  to  a  collection  of  water,  the  road 
is  often  impassable  to  man  and  beast.  Often  during 
the  rainy  season  there  is  a  lagoon  of  mud  or  water 
formed  by  the  drainage  from  the  mountains,  which 
finds  no  escape  but  by  percolating  through  the  earth 
and  rock  to  a  valley  on  the  east  of,  and  below,  the 
mountains  forming  the  eastern  boundary  of  the 
Wuchai  Valley.  To  Chao-t'ong  is  fairly  level 
going. 

Considering  the  road,  it  was  not  unnatural  that  my 
men  gibbed  a  httle  at  the  eleven-day  accompHshment. 
I  had  a  long  parley  with  them,  however,  and  agreed 
to  reward  them  to  the  extent  of  one  thousand  cash 
between  the  three  if  they  did  it.  Their  pay  for  the 
journey,  over  admittedly  some  of  the  worst  roads  in 
the  Empire,  was  to  be  four  hundred  cash  per  man 
as  before,  with  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  cash 
extra  if  the  rain  did  not  prevent  them  from  getting 
in  in  eleven  days.  They  were  in  good  spirits,  and 
so  was  I,  as  we  walked  along  the  river-bank,  where 

85 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the  poppy  was  to  be  seen  in  full  flower,*  and  the 
unending  beds  of  rape  alternated  with  peas  and  beans 
and  tobacco.  T'ong  would  persist  in  stealing  the 
peas  and  the  beans  to  feed  me  on,  and  for  the  life  of 
me  I  could  not  get  him  to  see  that  he  should  not  do 
this  sort  of  thing.  But  how  continually  one  was 
impressed  with  the  great  need  of  roads  in  Western 
China  !  It  is  natural  that,  walking  the  whole 
distance,  I  should  notice  this  more  than  other 
travellers  have  done,  and,  to  my  mind,  roads  in  this 
part  of  the  country  rank  in  importance  before  the 
railways. 

To  the  foreign  mind  it  is  more  to  the  interests  of 
China  that  railways  should  be  well  and  serviceably 
built  than  that  the  money  should  be  squandered  to 
no  purpose.  If  a  railway  has  rails,  then  in  China  it 
can  be  called  a  railway,  and  China  is  satisfied.  So 
with  the  roads.  If  there  is  any  passage  at  all,  then 
the  Chinese  call  it  a  road,  and  China  is  satisfied. 

As  one  meanders  through  the  country,  watching  a 
people  who  are  equalled  nowhere  in  the  world  for 
their  industry,  plodding  away  over  the  worst  roads 
any  civilised  country  possesses,  he  cannot  but  think, 
even  looking  at  the  question  from  the  Chinaman's 
standpoint  so  far  as  he  is  able,  that,  were  free  scope 

*  We  were  still  in  Szech'wan.  At  that  time  there  was  no 
poppy  in  Yiin-nan,  and,  as  will  be  seen  in  other  parts  of  this  book, 
Szech'wan  has  now  almost  stamped  out  the  growth  of  the  drug. 
Szech'wan  early  acquired  the  art  of  opium  manufacture,  bounded 
as  it  is  to  the  north  by  Kansu,  and  to  the  south  by  Yiin-nan, 
both  centres  of  Mohammedan  influence  from  early  times  to  the 
present  day  ;  and  when  the  practice  of  smoking  the  drug  was 
introduced  it  must  have  spread  at  once  to  the  inhabitants  of 
this  mist-covered  province.  It  has  been  confidently  stated  that 
the  consumption  of  opium  per  capita  was  three  times  that  of  the 
coast  provinces.  No  foreign  opium  has  ever  been  imported, 
and  the  poppy,  cultivated  certainly  as  early  as  the  ninth  century, 
was  grown  everywhere  at  the  time  I  passed  through  Szech'wan 
(April,  1909).  The  probable  production  at  this  time  for  the 
province  was  not  less  than  250,000  piculs. — E.  J._D. 

86 


SUI-FU    TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

once  given  for  the  infusion  of  Western  energy  and 
methods  into  an  active,  trade-loving  people  like  the 
Chinese,  China  would  rival  the  United  States  in 
wealth  and  natural  resources.  The  Chinaman  knows 
that  his  country,  the  natural  resources  of  the  country 
and  the  people,  will  allow  him  to  do  things  on  a  scale 
which  will  by  and  by  completely  overbalance  the 
doings  of  countries  less  favoured  by  Nature  than  his 
own.  He  knows  that  when  properly  developed  his 
country  will  be  one  of  the  richest  in  the  world,  yet 
even  when  he  is  filled  with  such  ideas  he  is  just  as 
cunctative  as  he  has  ever  been.  He  has  got  the  idea 
that  he  should  not  commence  to  exhaust  the  wealth 
of  his  country  before  it  is  absolutely  necessary. 

Above  all,  he  has  now  made  up  his  mind  that  he 
himself,  unaided  by  the  foreigner,  is  going  to  develop 
it  just  as  he  likes  and  just  when  he  likes. 

The  day  of  the  foreign  concession  is  gone.  The 
Chinaman  now  is  paddling  his  own  canoe,  and  it 
is  only  by  cultivating  his  friendship,  by  proving  to 
him  by  acts,  and  not  by  words,  that  the  intrusion  of 
privileged  enterprises — such  as  great  mining  conces- 
sions and  railway  concessions,  in  which  the  foreigner 
demands  that  he  be  the  only  principal — is  no  longer 
contemplated,  that  the  day  will  be  won.  But  it  is 
equally  true  that  only  by  combining  European  and 
Chinese  interests  on  the  modern  company  system^ 
the  real  Opening  of  China  can  be  effected. 


Distances  are  as  variable  as  the  wind  in  the  Middle 
Kingdom. 

The  first  forty  li  on  this  journey  were  much  shorter 
than  the  last  thirty,  which  took  about  twice  as  long 
to  cover.     I  dragged  along  through  the  narrow  path 

87 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

through  the  wheat  fields,  and,  making  for  an  old  man, 
who  looked  as  if  he  should  know,  I  asked  him  the 
distance  to  my  destination.  His  reply  of  twenty  U 
I  accepted  as  accurate,  and  I  reckoned  that  I  could 
cover  this  easily  in  a  couple  of  hours.  But  at  the  end 
of  this  time  we  had,  according  to  a  casual  wayfarer, 
five  more  li,  and  when  we  had  covered  at  least  four 
another  rustic  said  it  was  "  two  and  a  bit."  This 
answer  we  got  from  four  different  people  on  the  way, 
and  I  was  glad  when  I  had  completed  the  journey. 
One  does  not  mind  the  two  li  so  much — it  is  the  "  bit  " 
which  upsets  one's  calculations. 

The  following  day,  on  the  road  to  Huan-chiang, 
I  lost  myself — that  is,  I  lost  my  men,  and  did  not 
know  the  road.  I  got  away  into  some  quaint, 
secluded  garden  and  sat  down,  tired  and  hot,  under 
a  tree  in  the  shade,  where  a  faint  wind  swung  the 
heavy  foliage  with  a  solemn  sound,  and  the  subdued 
and  soothing  music  of  a  brook  running  between 
two  banks  of  moss  and  turf  must  have  sent  me  to 
sleep.  It  was  with  a  dreary  sense  of  ominous 
foreboding  that  I  woke,  as  if  in  expectation  of  some 
disaster.  Not  a  living  creature  was  visible,  and  I 
doubted  the  possibility  of  finding  anyone  in  such  a 
spot.  Never,  surely,  was  there  a  silence  anywhere  as 
here  !  Seized  with  a  solemn  fear,  my  presence  there 
seemed  to  me  a  strange  intrusion.  I  looked  around, 
moved  forward  a  little,  hastened  my  steps  to  get 
away,  but  whence  or  how  I  knew  not.  I  knew  this 
was  a  country  of  erratic  distances — it  was  now  getting 
on  for  sunset — and  the  continuous  toiling  up  and 
down  the  sides  of  the  difficult  mountains  had  tired 
me.  All  of  a  sudden  I  heard  a  noise,  heard  someone 
fall,  looked  round  and  beheld  T'ong,  perspiration 
pouring  down  his  back  and  front. 

88 


SUI-FU    TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

"  Oh,  master,  this  b'long  velly  much  bobbery. 
I  makee  velly  frightened.  I  think  p'laps  master 
wantchee  makee  run  away."  And  then,  after  a 
time  :    "  You  no  wantchee  catch  '  chow  '  ?  " 

"  Chow  ?  " 

No,  I  could  easily  have  gone  without  food  for  that 
night.  I  was  lost,  and  now  was  found.  I  had  no 
money,  could  not  speak  the  language,  was  fatigued 
beyond  words.     What  would  have  become  of  me  ? 

Miniature  turret-Uke  hills  hemmed  us  in  as  in  a 
huge  park,  with  a  narrow  winding  pathway,  steep  as 
the  side  of  a  house,  leading  to  the  top  of  the  mountain 
beyond,  and  then  descending  quite  as  rapidly  to 
Fan-ih-ts'uen.  The  cooHes  told  me  the  next  day 
the  road  would  be  worse,  and  so  it  turned  out  to  be. 

At  5.0  a.m.  a  thick  drizzly  rain  was  falling,  just 
sufficient  to  make  the  flagstones  slippery  as  ice, 
and  the  European  contrivances  which  covered  my  feet 
stood  no  chance  at  all  compared  with  the  straw 
sandals  of  the  native.  I  could  not  get  any  big 
enough  around  here  to  put  over  my  boots.  My 
carriers  had  gone  ahead,  and  as  I  was  passing  a 
paddy  field  one  leg  went  from  under  me,  and  I  was  up 
to  my  middle  in  thin  wet  mud.  In  this  I  had  to 
trudge  seven  miles  before  I  could  get  other  garments 
from  the  coolie,  changing  my  trousers  behind  a  piece 
of  matting  held  up  in  front  of  me  by  my  boy  !  All 
enjoyed  the  fun — except  myself.  Little  boys  tried 
to  peer  around  the  side  of  the  matting,  and,  as  T'ong 
tried  to  kick  them  away,  so  the  matting  would  drop 
and  expose  me  to  pubhc  view.  But  I  had  a  change, 
and  that  was  most  important  to  me. 

Later  on,  my  ugly  coolie — the  ugliest  man  in  or  out 
of  China,  I  should  think,  ugly  beyond  description — 
dropped  my  bedding  as  he  was  crossing  the  river, 

89 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

and  I  had  the  pleasure  of  sleeping  on  a  wet  bed  at 
T'an-t'eo. 
\  I  must  ask  the  reader's  pardon  for  again  referring 
to  Chinese  inns.  I  should  not  have  made  any  remark 
upon  this  awful  hovel  had  not  the  man  laid 
a  scheme  to  charge  me  three  times  as  much  as  he 
should — a  scheme,  be  it  said,  in  which  my  boy  took 
no  part.  It  was  truly  a  fearful  den,  where  man  and 
beast  lived  in  promiscuous  and  insupportable  filth. 
The  dung-heap  charms  the  sight  of  this  agricultural 
people,  without  in  the  shghtest  wounding  their 
olfactory  nerves,  and  these  utilitarians  think  there 
is  no  use  seeking  privacy  to  do  what  they  regard  as 
beneficial  and  productive  work.  The  bed  here  was 
the  worst  I  had  had  offered  me.  The  mattress, 
upon  which  every  previous  traveller  for  many  years 
had  left  his  tribute  of  vermin,  was  not  fit  for  use, 
there  were  myriads  of  filthy  insects,  and  I  found 
Tn3'Self  obliged  to  stop  and  have  some  clothes  boiled, 
and  for  comfort's  sake  rubbed  my  body  with  Chinese 
wine.  Filth  there  was  everywhere.  It  seemed 
inseparable  from  the  people,  and  a  total  apathy  as 
regards  matter  in  the  wrong  place  pervaded  all 
classes,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.  The  spring 
is  opening,  and  my  hard-worked  coolies  doff  their 
heavy  padded  winter  clothing,  parade  their  naked 
skin,  and  are  quite  unconscious  of  any  disgrace 
attending  the  exhibition  of  the  itch  sores  which 
disfigure  them. 

LI  remember,  however,  that  I  am  in  China,  and 
must  not  be  disgusted. 

And  should  any  reader  be  disgusted  at  the  dis- 
jointed character  of  this  particular  portion  of  my 
jcpmmon  phraseology,  I  would  only  say  in  apology 
1  that  I  am  writing  under  the  gaze  of  a  mystified  crowd, 

90 


SUI-FU    TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

each  of  whom  has  a  word  to  say  about  my  type- 
writer— the  first,  undoubtedly,  that  he  has  ever 
seen.  This  machine  has  caused  the  greatest  surprise 
all  along  the  route,  and  it  is  on  occasions  when  the 
Chinaman  sees  for  the  first  time  things  of  this 
intricate  mechanical  nature  that  he  gives  one  the 
impression  that  he  is  a  little  boy.  The  people  crowd 
into  my  room  :  they  cannot  be  kept  out,  although  at 
the  present  moment  I  have  stationed  my  two 
soldiers  in  the  doorway  where  I  am  writing,  so  as  to 
get  a  little  light,  to  keep  them  from  crowding  actually  , 
upon  me.  - — ' 

It  has  been  said  that  all  of  us  have  an  innermost 
room,  wherein  we  conceal  our  own  secret  affairs. 
In  China  everything  is  so  open,  and  so  much  must  be 
done  in  public,  that  it  would  surprise  one  to  know 
that  the  Chinese  have  an  inner  room.  The  European 
traveller  in  this  region  must  have  no  inner  room 
either,  for  the  people  seem  to  see  down  deep  into  one's 
very  soul.  But  it  is  when  one  wanders  on  alone, 
as  I  have  done  to-day,  doing  two  days  in  one,  no. 
less  than  one  hundred  and  forty  li  of  terrible  road 
through  the  most  isolated  country,  that  one  can 
enjoy  the  comfort  of  one's  own  loneliness  and  own 
inner  room.  The  scenery  was  picturesque,  much  like 
Scotland,  but  the  sohtude  was  the  best  of  all.  I 
had  left  office  and  books  and  manuscripts,  and  was 
on  a  lonely  walk,  enjoying  a  sohtude  from  which  I 
could  not  escape,  a  reverie  which  was  passed  not 
nearly  so  much  in  thinking  as  in  feeling,  a  feeling  to 
nature-lovers  which  can  never  be  completely 
expressed  in  words.  It  was  indeed  a  refuge  from  the 
storms  of  life,  and  a  veritable  chamber  of  peace. 
And  this,  to  my  mind,  is  the  way  to  spend  a  holiday. 
Robert  Louis  Stevenson  tells  us  in  one  of  his  early 

91 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

books  what  a  complete  world  two  congenial  friends 
make  for  themselves  in  the  midst  of  a  foreign 
population  :  all  the  hum  and  the  stir  goes  on,  and 
these  two  strangers  exchange  glances,  and  are  filled 
with  an  infinite  content.  Some  of  us  would  rather 
be  alone,  perhaps  ;  for  on  a  trip  Hke  I  am  making 
now,  in  order  to  be  happy  with  a  companion  you 
must  have  one  who  is  thoroughly  congenial  and 
sympathetic,  one  who  understands  your  unspoken 
thought,  who  is  willing  to  let  you  have  your  way  on 
the  concession  of  the  same  privilege.  Selfishness 
in  the  shghtest  degree  should  not  enter  in.  But  such 
a  man  is  difficult  to  find,  so  I  wander  on  alone, 
happy  in  my  own  sohtude.  Here  I  have  liberty, 
perfect  liberty. 

I  was  stopped  on  my  way  to  Lao-wa-t'an  at  a  small 
town  called  Puerh-tu,  the  first  place  of  importance 
after  having  come  into  Yiin-nan.  A  few  H  before 
reaching  this  town,  one  of  my  men  cut  the  large  toe 
of  his  left  foot  on  a  sharp  rock,  lacerating  the  flesh 
to  the  bone.  I  attended  to  him  as  best  I  could  on 
the  road,  paid  him  four  days'  extra  pay,  and  then 
had  a  bit  of  a  row  with  him  because  he  would  not  go 
back.  He  avowed  that  carrying  for  the  foreigner 
was  such  a  good  thing  that  he  feared  leaving  it  ! 
Upon  entering  Puerh-tu,  however,  he  fell  in  the 
roadway.  A  crowd  gathered,  a  loud  cry  went  up 
from  the  multitude,  and  in  the  consternation  and 
confusion  which  ensued  the  people  divided  them- 
selves into  various  sections. 

Some  rushed  to  proffer  assistance  to  the  fallen 
man  (this  was  done  because  I  was  about ;  he  would 
have  been  left  had  a  foreigner  not  been  there), 
others  gathered  round  me  with  outrageous  adulation 
and    seeming    words    of    welcome.     Meanwhile,    I 

92 


SUI-FU    TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

thought  the  cooUe  was  dying,  and,  fearful  and 
unnatural  as  it  seems,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  in 
all  ages  the  Chinese  find  a  peculiar  and  awful 
satisfaction  in  watching  the  agonies  of  the  dying. 
By  far  the  larger  part  of  the  mob  was  watching  him 
d5dng,  as  they  thought.  But  no,  he  was  worth  many 
dead  men  yet  !  He  slowly  opened  his  eyes,  smiled, 
rose  up,  and  immediately  recognised  a  poor  manacled 
wretch,  then  passing  under  escort  of  several  soldiers, 
who  stopped  a  little  farther  down,  followed  by  a 
mandarin  in  a  chair. 

On  this  particular  day,  more  than  a  customary 
morbid  diversion  was  thus  apparent  among  the 
motley-garbed  mass  of  men  and  women,  and  the 
ignominious  way  in  which  that  prisoner  was  treated 
was  horrible  to  look  upon.  The  perpetual  hum  of] 
voices  sounded  like  the  noise  made  by  a  thousand 
swarming  bees.  The  band  of  soldiers  guarding  the 
prisoner  suddenly  halted,  whilst  the  mandarin 
conferred  with  the  chief,  after  which  he  advanced 
slowly  towards  me. 

I  was  on  the  point  of  telhng  him  in  English  that 
I  had  done  nothing  against  the  law,  so  far  as  I 
knew. 

He  bowed  solemnly,  during  which  time  I, 
attempting  the  same,  had  much  trouble  from 
bursting  out  laughing  in  his  face.  He  beckoned  to  me, 
and  then  rushed  me  bodily  into  a  house,  where,  in 
the  best  room,  I  found  another  official  and  his  two 
sons.  T'ong  followed  as  interpreter.  The  mandarin 
explained  that  I  was  wanted  to  stay  the  night,  that 
a  theatrical  entertainment  had  been  arranged 
particularly  for  my  benefit,  that  he  wished  I  would  take 
their  photographs,  that  one  of  them  would  hke  a  cigar- 
ette tin  with  some  cigarettes  in  it,  and  that  one  of 

93 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

them  would  like  to  sell  me  a  thoroughbred,  hard- 
working, magnificently-shaped,  without-a-single-vice 
black  pony,  which  they  would  part  with  for  my 
benefit  for  the  consideration  of  one  hundred  taels 
down  (four  times  its  value),  which  awaited  my 
inspection  without.  I  stood  up  and  fronted  them, 
and  replied,  through  T'ong,  that  I  could  not  stay  the 
night,  that  I  would  be  pleased  to  tolerate  the 
howHng  of  the  theatre  for  one  half  of  an  hour,  that 
it  would  have  given  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  take 
their  photographs,  but,  alas  !  my  films  were  not  many. 
I  handed  them  a  cigarette  tin,  but  quite  forgot 
that  they  asked  for  cigarettes  as  well  (I  had  none), 
and  I  explained  that  horse-riding  was  not  one  of 
my  accomplishments,  so  that  their  quadruped  would 
be  of  no  use  to  me. 

They   looked   glum,    I    smiled   serenely.     This   is 
JChinesey. 


94 


Off  the  main  road  to  Ch:i  )-t'ong-fii. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

Szech'wan  and  Yiln-nan.  Coolies  and  their  loads.  Exports  and 
imports.  Hints  to  English  exporters.  Food  at  famine  rates. 
A  wretched  inn  at  Wuchai.  Author  prevents  murder.  Sleep- 
ing in  the  rain.  The  foreign  cigarette  trade.  Poverty  of  Chao- 
t'ong.  Simplicity  of  life.  Possible  advantages  of  Chinese  in 
struggle  of  yellow  and  white  races.  Foreign  goods  in  Yiln-nan 
and  Szech'wan.  Thousands  of  beggars  die.  Supposed  lime 
poisoning.  Content  of  the  people.  Opium  not  grown. 
Prices  of  prepared  drug  in  Tong-ch'uan-fu  compared. 
Smuggling  from  Kwei-choiv .  Opium  and  tin  of  Yiin-nan^ 
Remarkable  bonfire  at  Yiln-nan-fu.  Infanticide  at  Chao- 
t'ong.  Selling  of  female  children  into  slavery.  Author's 
horse  steps  on  human  skull. 

Were  one  uninformed,  small  observance  would  be 
necessary  to  detect  the  borderline  of  Szech'wan  and 
Yiin-nan.  The  latter  is  supposed  to  be  one  of  the 
most  ill-nurtured  and  desolate  provinces  of  the 
Empire,  mountainous,  void  of  cultivation  when 
compared  with  Szech'wan,  one  mass  of  high  hills- 
conditioned  now  as  Nature  made  them  ;  and  the 
people,  too,  ashamed  of  their  own  wretchedness, 
are  ill-fed  and  ill-clad. 

The  greater  part  of  the  roads  to  be  traversed  now 
were  constructed  on  projecting  slopes  above  rivers 
and  torrents,  affluents  of  the  Yangtze,  and  cross 
a  region  upon  which  the  troubled  appearance  of  the 
mountains  that  bristle  over  it  stamps  the  impress  of  a 
severe  kind  of  beauty.  Such  roads  would  not  be 
tolerated  in  any  country  but  China — I  doubt  if  any 
but  the  ancient  Chinese  could  have  had  the  patience 
to  build  them.  One  could  not  walk  with  comfort ;  it 
was  an  impossible  task.     Far  away  over  the  eartlT^ 

95 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

winding  into  all  the  natural  trends  of  the  mountain 
base,  ran  the  highway,  merrily  tripping  over  huge 
boulders,  into  hollows  and  out  of  them,  almost 
underground,  but  always,  with  its  long  white 
extended  finger,  beckoning  me  on  by  the  narrow 
ribbon  in  the  distance.  True,  although  I  was 
absolutely  destitute  of  company,  I  had  always  the 
road  with  me,  yet  ever  far  from  me.  I  could  not 
catch  it  up,  and  sometimes,  dreaming  triumphantly 
that  I  had  now  come  even  with  it  where  it  seemed 
to  end  in  some  disordered  stony  mass,  it  would 
trip  mischievously  out  again  into  view,  bounding 
away  into  some  tricky  bend  far  down  to  the  edge  of 
the  river,  and  rounding  out  of  sight  once  more  until 
the  point  of  vantage  was  attained.  Its  twisting  and 
turning,  up  and  down,  inwards,  outwards,  made 
humour  for  the  full  long  day.  With  it  I  could  not 
quarrel,  for  it  did  its  best  to  help  me  with  my  weary 
men  onwards  over  the  now  darkened  landscape,  and 
ever  took  the  lead  to  urge  us  forward.  If  it  came  to 
a  great  upstanding  mountain,  with  marked  politeness 
it  ran  round  b}^  a  circuitous  route,  more  easy  if  of 
greater  length ;  at  other  times  it  scaled  clear  up,  nimbly 
and  straight,  turning  not  once  to  us  in  its  self- 
appointed  task,  and  at  the  top,  standing  like  some 
fairy  on  a  steeple-point,  beckoned  us  on  encourag- 
ingly. At  times  it  became  exhausted  and  stretched 
itself  wearisomely  out,  measuring  in  width  to  only 
a  few  small  inches,  and  overlooked  the  river  at  great 
height,  telling  us  to  ponder  well  our  footsteps  ere  we  go 
forward.  To  part  company  with  the  road  would 
mean  to  die,  for  elsewhere  was  no  foothold  possible. 
So  in  this  narrow  faithful  ledge,  torn  up  by  the  heavy 
tread  of  countless  horses'  feet  beyond  Lao-wa-t'an 
(wher^   horse  traffic  starts),    we    carefully    ordered 

96 


SUI-FU   TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

every  step.  Looking  down,  sheer  down  as  from  some 
lofty  palace  window,  I  saw  the  green  snake  waiting, 
waiting  for  me.  Shpping,  there  would  be  no  hope — 
death  and  the  river  alone  lay  down  that  treacherous 
mountain-side.  And  then,  at  times,  pursuing  that 
white-faced  wriggling  demon  which  stretched  out  far 
over  the  mist-swept  landscape  in  incessant  writhing 
and  annoying  contortions,  we  quite  gave  up  the 
chase.  It  seemed  leading  me  on  to  some  unknown 
destiny.  I  knew  not  whither  ;  only  this  I  knew — 
that  I  must  follow. 

And  so  each  hour  and  every  hour  was  fraught 
with  peril  which  seemed  imminent.  But  He  who 
guards  the  fatherless  and  helpless,  feeds  the  poor 
and  friendless,  guarded  the  traveller  in  those 
days.  Mishaps  I  had  none,  and  when  at  night 
I  reached  those  tiny  mountain  seats,  perched 
majestically  high  for  the  most  part  and  swept  by 
all  the  winds  of  heaven,  I  seemed  to  be  the 
lonely  spectator  and  companionless  watcher  over 
mighty  mountain-tops,  which  appeared  every 
moment  to  be  hesitating  to  take  a  gigantic  dive 
into  the  roaring  river  several  hundred  feet  below 
our  lofty  resting-place. 

Some  of  the  larger  villages  had  the  arrogant  look  of 
old  feudal  fortresses,  and  up  the  paths  leading  to  them, 
cut  out  in  a  defile  in  the  vertical  cliffs,  we  passed  with 
difficulty  coolies  carrying  on  their  backs  the  enormous 
loads,  which  are  the  wonder  of  all  who  have  seen  them, 
their  backs  straining  under  the  boomerang-shaped 
frames  to  which  the  merchandise  was  lashed. 
Hundreds  passed  us  on  their  toilsome  journey  with 
tea,  lamp-oil,  skins,  hides,  copper,  lead,  coal  and 
white  wax  from  Yiin-nan,  and  with  salt,  English 
cotton,    Chinese    porcelain,    fans    and    so    on    from 

97 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

Szech'wan.  One  false  step,  one  slight  slip,  and  they 
would  have  been  hurled  down  the  ravine,  where 
far  below,  in  the  roaring  cataract,  dwarfed  to  the 
size  of  a  toy  boat,  was  a  junk  being  cleverly  taken 
down-stream.  And  down  there  also,  one  false  move 
and  the  huge  junk  would  have  been  dashed  against 
the  rocks,  and  banks  strewn  with  the  corpses  of  the 
crew.  As  it  was,  they  were  mere  specks  of  blue  in 
.  a  background  of  white  foam,  their  vociferating  and 
[_yelling  being  drowned  by  the  roar  of  the  waters. 
On  the  road,  passing  and  re-passing,  I  saw  coolies  on 
the  way  to  Yiin-nan-fu  with  German  cartridges  and 
Japanese  guns,  the  packing,  so  different  generally 
to  British  goods  which  come  into  China,  being 
particularly  good.  This  is  one  of  the  cries  of  the 
importer  in  China  against  the  British  manufacturer; 
and  if  the  latter  knew  more  of  Chinese  transport  and 
the  manner  in  which  the  goods  are  handled  in 
changing  from  place  to  place,  one  would  meet  fewer 
broken  packages  on  the  road  in  this  land  of  long 
distances. 

A  friend  of  mine,  needing  a  typewriter,  wrote  home 
explicit  instructions  as  to  the  packing.  "  Pack  it 
ready  to  ship,"  he  wrote,  "  then  take  it  to  the  top  of 
your  ofhce  stairs,  throw  it  down  the  stairs,  take 
machine  out  and  inspect,  and  if  it  is  undamaged 
re-pack  and  send  to  me.  If  damaged,  pack  another 
machine,  subject  it  to  the  same  treatment  until  3^ou 
are  convinced  that  it  can  stand  being  thus  handled 
and  escape  injury."  This  is  how  goods  coming  to 
^^estem  China  should  be  sent  away. 

Gradually  the  days  brought  harder  toil.  The 
mountains  grew  higher,  some  covered  with  forests 
of  pine  trees,  which  natural  ornament  completely 
changed  the  aspect  of  the  country.     Torrents  foamed 

98 


SUI-FU    TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

noisily  down  the  gorges,  veiled  by  the  curtain  of 
great  trees  ;  sometimes,  on  a  ridge,  a  field  of  buck- 
wheat, shining  in  the  sun,  looked  like  the  beginning 
of  the  eternal  snows. 

Food  was  at  famine  rates.  Eggs  there  were  in 
abundance,  pork  also  ;  but  it  was  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  the  traveller,  having  seen  the  conditions  under 
which  the  pigs  are  reared,  refrained  from  the  luxury 
of  Yiin-nan  roast  pig.  My  men  fed  on  maize.  The 
faces  of  the  people  were  pinched  and  wan,  unpleasant 
to  look  upon,  bearing  unmistakable  signs  of  poverty 
and  misery,  and  they  seemed  too  concerned  in 
keeping  the  wolf  from  the  door  to  attend  to  me. 
At  Ta-kwan  they  treated  themselves  to  a  sheng  of 
rice  apiece — here  the  shcng  is  1.8  catties,  as  against 
II  catties  in  the  capital  of  the  province.* 

At  Wuchai,  the  last  stage  before  reaching  Chao- 
t'ong-fu,  the  room  of  the  inn  had  three  walls  only, 
and  two  of  these  were  composed  of  kerosene  tins, 
laced  together  with  bamboo  stripping.  (Probably 
the  oil  tins  had  been  stolen  from  the  mission  premises 
at  Chao-t'ong.)  Through  the  whole  night  it  rained 
as  it  had  never  rained  before,  but,  instead  of  feeling 
miserable,  I  tried  to  see  the  humour  of  the  situation. 
One  can  get  humour  from  the  most  embarrassing 
circumstances,  and  my  chief  amusement  arose  from 
a  small  business  deal  between  one  of  my  coolies, 
who  had  sublet  his  contract  to  a  poor  fellow  return- 
ing in  the  rain,  who  had  arranged  to  carry  the  ninety 
catties  ninety  li  for  a  fourth  of  the  original  price 
arranged  between  my  coolie  and  myself.  For  one 
full  hour  they  argued  at  a  terrible  speed  as  to  the  rate 
of  exchange  in  the  Szech'wan  large  and  the  Yiin-nan 

*  See    Appendix    B    at    end    of    book    on    "  Weights    and 
Measures." 


99 


J 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

small  cash,  and  this  was  only  interrupted  when 
a  poor  man,  deaf  and  dumb,  and  of  hideous  appear- 
ance, seeing  the  foreigner  in  his  contemptible  town, 
rushed  in  with  a  carrying  pole  and  felled  his 
grumbling  townsman  at  my  feet. 

My  intervention  probably  averted  murder — at  any 
rate,  it  seemed  as  though  murder  would  have  taken 
place  very  soon  but  for  my  interference.  The  whole 
populace  gathered,  of  course,  and  the  fight  waged 
fiercely  until  well  on  into  the  night.  But  wrapping 
myself  in  my  mackintosh,  and  putting  my  paper 
umbrella  at  the  right  angle,  I  went  to  sleep  with  the 
rain  dripping  on  me  as  they  were  indulging  in  final 
pleasantries  regarding  each  others  ancestry. 
T  "^  The  first  thing  I  saw  at  Chao-t'ong  the  next  day 
*  was  the  foreign  cigarette,  sold  at  a  wayside  stall 
by  a  vendor  of  monkey  nuts  and  marrow  seeds. 
No  trade  has  prospered  in  Yiin-nan  during  the  past 
two  years  more  than  the  foreign  cigarette  trade, 
and  the  growing  evil  among  the  children  of  the 
common  people,  both  male  and  female,  is  viewed  with 
alarm.  From  Tachien-lu  to  Mengtsz,  from  Chung- 
king to  Bhamo,  one  is  rarely  out  of  sight  of  the  well- 
known  flaring  posters  in  the  Chinese  characters 
advertising  the  British  cigarette.  Some  months 
ago  a  couple  of  Europeans  were  sent  out  to  advertise, 
and  they  stuck  their  poster  decorations  on  the  walls 
of  temples,  on  private  houses  and  official  residences, 
with  the  result  that  the  people  were  piqued  so  much 
as  to  tear  down  the  bills  immediately.  In  Yiin-nan, 
especially  since  the  exit  of  opium,  this  common 
cigarette  is  smoked  by  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor. 
I  have  been  offered  them  at  small  feasts,  and  when 
calling  upon  high  officials  at  the  capital  have  been 
offered  a  packet  of  cigarettes  instead  of  a  whiff  of 

ICO 


SUI-FU    TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

opium,  as  would  have  been  done  formerly.  One  is 
not,  of  course,  prepared  to  say  whether  such  a  trade 
is  desirable  or  not,  but  it  merely  needs  to  be  made 
known  that  towards  the  middle  of  the  present  year 
(1910)  a  proclamation  was  issued  from  the  Viceroy's 
yamen  at  Yiin-nan-fu  speaking  in  strongest  terms 
against  the  increasing  habit  of  smoking  foreign 
cigarettes,  to  show  the  trend  of  official  opinion  on  the 
subject.  After  having  referred  to  the  enormous 
advances  made  in  the  imports  of  cigarettes,  the 
proclamation  deplored  the  general  tendency  of  the 
people  to  support  such  an  undesirable  trade,  and 
exhorted  the  citizens  to  turn  from  their  evil  ways. 
We  cannot  stop  the  importation  of  the  cigarettes,  it , 
read,  but  there  is  no  need  for  our  people  to  buy.  \ 

At  Chao-t'ong  I  stayed  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Savin, 
and  spent  a  very  pleasant  two  days'  rest  here  in  his 
hospitable  hands.  It  was  in  this  district  I  first  came 
across  goitre,  the  first  time  I  had  seen  it  in  my  life. 
It  is  a  terrible  disfigurement.* 

Poor  indeed  is  the  whole  of  this  neighbourhood. 
Poverty,  thin  and  wanting  food  to  eat,  stalks  abroad 
dressed  in  a  rag  or  two,  armed  with  a  staff  to  keep 
away  the  snarhng  dogs,  and  a  broken  bowl  to  gather 
garbage. 

Even  the  better  class,  who  manage  to  afford  their 
maize  and  bean  curds,  are  to  be  praised  for  the 
extreme  simphcity  which  everywhere  vividly  marks 
their  monotonous  lives.  Indeed,  this  is  true  of  the 
whole  area  through  which  I  have  travelled.  No 
furniture  brings  confusion  to  their  rooms,  no 
machinery  distresses  the  ear  with  its  groaning  or  the 
eye  with  its  unsightliness,  no  factories  belch  out 
smoke  and  blacken  the  beauty  of  the  sky,   no  trains 

*  See  Appendix  C. 
lOI 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

screech  to  disturb  sleepers  and  frighten  babies.  The 
simplest  of  simple  beds — in  most  cases  merely  a  few 
boards  with  a  straw  mattress  placed  thereon — the 
straw  sandal  on  the  foot,  wooden  chopsticks  in  place 
of  knives  and  forks,  the  small  variety  of  foods  and 
of  cooking  utensils,  the  simple  homespun  cotton 
clothing — much  of  this  finds  favour  in  the  eye  of  the 
English  traveller.  The  Chinese,  of  all  Orientals, 
teach  us  how  to  live  without  furniture,  without 
impedimenta,  with  the  least  possible  amount  of 
clothing  in  the  case  of  the  poorer  classes,  and  I  could 
not  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  advantage  thus  held 
by  this  great  nation  in  the  struggle  of  life.  It  may 
serve  them  in  good  stead  in  the  struggle  of  the 
Yellow  Man  against  the  White  Man,  to  which  I  refer 
at  a  later  period  in  this  book  ;  also  does  it  inci- 
dentally show  up  the  real  character  of  some  of  the 
weaknesses  of  our  own  civihsation,  and  when  one  is 
in  China,  living  near  the  people,  forces  reflection 
upon  one  of  the  useless  multipUcity  of  our  daily 
wants.  We  must  have  our  daily  stock  of  bread  and 
butter  and  meat,  glass  windows  and  fires,  hats,  white 
shirts  and  woollen  underwear,  boots  and  shoes, 
trunks,  bags  and  boxes,  bedsteads,  mattresses, 
sheets  and  blankets — most  of  which  a  Chinaman 
can  do  without,  and  indeed  is  actually  better  off 
without.* 

This  is  not  true  in  every  class,  however  ;  for  whilst 
there  is  no  denying  the  charm  of  the  simpler 
civihsation,  many  of  the  Chinese  of  Szech'wan  and 
Yiin-nan  glory  in  goods  of  foreign  manufacture,  no 

*  Anyone  who  contemplates  a  tramp  across  China  must  not 
get  the  idea  that  he  can  still  continue  the  uses  of  civilisation. 
For  the  most  part  he  will  have  to  live  pretty  well  as  a  Chinaman 
the  whole  time,  and  he  will  find,  like  I  found,  that  it  is  easy  to  give 
up  a  thing  when  you  know  the  impossibility  of  getting  it. — E.  J.  D. 

1 02 


SUI-FU    TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

matter  if  to  them  is  not  disclosed  the  proper  purpose 
of  any  particular  article  adopted. 

Rice  \\dll  not  grow  here  in  great  quantities,  owing 
to  the  scarcity  of  water  ;  therefore  the  people  feed 
on  maize,  and  are  thankful  to  get  it. 

Chao-t'ong  is  the  centre  of  a  large  district  devas- 
tated by  recurring  seasons  of  plague,  rebellion  and 
famine,  when  thousands  die  annually  from  starvation 
in  the  town  and  on  the  level  uplands  surrounding  it. 
The  beggars  on  one  occasion,  becoming  so  numerous, 
were  driven  from  the  streets,  confined  within  the 
walls  of  the  temple  and  grounds  beyond  the  South 
Gate,  and  there  fed  by  common  charity.  Huddled 
together  in  disease  and  rags  and  unspeakable  misery, 
they  died  in  thousands,  and  the  Chinese  say  that  of 
live  thousand  who  crossed  the  temple  threshold 
two  thousand  never  came  out  alive. 

This  happened  some  twenty  years  ago.  The 
unfortunate  victims  had  for  their  food  a  rice  porridge, 
mixed  with  which  was  a  substance  alleged  to  have 
been  lime,  the  common  belief  being  that  the  maj  ority 
of  those  who  perished  died  as  the  effect  of  poisoning 
thereby.  Outside  the  city  boundary  hundreds  of  the 
dead  were  flung  into  huge  pits,  and  even  now  the 
inhabitants  refer  to  the  time  when  children  were  ex- 
changed ad  libitum  for  a  handful  of  rice  or  even 
less. 

During  my  stay  in  this  city,  I  heard  on  all  hands 
some  of  the  most  blood-curdling  stories  of  the  dire 
distress  which,  hke  a  dark  cloud,  still  menaces  the 
people,  some  of  which  are  too  dreadful  for  public 
print. 

But  I  suppose  these  poor  people  are  content.  If 
they  are,  they  possess  a  virtue  which  produces,  in 
some  measure  at  all  events,  all  those  effects  which 


103 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the  alchemist  usually  ascribes  to  what  he  calls  the 
philosopher's  stone  ;  and  if  their  content  does  not 
bring  riches,  it  banishes  the  desire  for  them.  Years 
ago  the  people  could  entertain  some  small  hope  of 
prosperity  now  and  again.  If  the  opium  crop  were 
good,  money  was  plentiful.  But  now  no  opium  is 
grown,  and  the  misery-stricken  people  have  lost  all 
hope  of  better  times,  and  seem  to  have  sunk  in 
many  instances  to  the  lowest  pangs  of  distressful 
poverty.* 

Reader,  alarm  not  yourself !  I  am  not  here  to  lead 
you  into  a  long  harangue  on  opium — it  presents  too 
thorny  a  subject  for  me  to  handle.  I  am  not  a 
partisan  in  the  opium  traffic  ;  my  mission  is  not 
essentially  to  denounce  it ;  I  am  not  impelled  by  an 
irresistible  desire  to  investigate  facts  and  put  them 
before  you.  My  views  on  the  question  are  con- 
densed into  a  single  paragraph  in  the  second  part 
of  this  book.  There  is  practically  no  opium  in 
Yiin-nan  to  talk  about. 

This  is  absolute  fact — not  a  Chinese  fact,  but  good 
old  British  truth  (although  British  truth  when  it 
touches  upon  opium  has  been  very,  very  perverted 
since  we  first  commenced  to  transact  opium  trade 
with  this  great  country).  With  the  exception  of  one 
small  patch,  some  ten  miles  away  from  the  main 
road  between  Yiin-nan-fu  and  Tali-fu,  I  saw  no 
poppy  whatever  in  the  province.  This  does  not  mean, 
however,  that  no  opium  is  to  be  got. 

*  This  was  written  in  April,  1909.  I  have  altered  my  views 
since  I  have  travelled  from  end  to  end  in  Yiin-nan.  The 
disappearance  of  opium,  on  the  contrary,  apart  from  the  moral 
advantage  to  the  people,  has  done  much  to  place  them  in 
a  better  position  financially.  In  Tali-fu  I  found  not  a  single  shop 
on  the  main  street  "  to  let,"  and  the  trade  of  the  place  had  gone 
ahead  considerably,  and  this  was  a  city  which  people  generally 
supposed  would  suffer  most  on  account  of  the  non-growth  of 
opium. — E.  J.  D. 

lOJL 


SUI-FU    TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

During  the  past  three  weeks*  no  less  than  five  cases 
of  attempted  suicide  by  opium  poisoning  have  come 
under  my  personal  notice  in  the  town  in  which  I  am 
residing,  and  there  have  doubtless  been  fifty  more 
which  have  not.  If  there  is  no  opium,  where  do  the 
people  so  easily  secure  it  in  endeavours  to  take  their 
lives  upon  the  sHghtest  provocation  ?  Last  year 
the  price  of  opium  here  on  the  streets,  although  its 
sale  was  "  illegal,"  was  over  three  tsien  (about  nine- 
pence)  the  Chinese  ounce  of  prepared  opium.  At 
the  present  time,  in  the  same  city,  many  men  would 
be  wilHng  to  do  a  deal  for  any  quantity  you  like  for  less 
than  two  tsien.  Cases  of  smuggHng  are  frequent.  One 
gets  accustomed  to  hear  of  large  quantities  being- 
smuggled  through  in  most  cunning  ways,  and  it  all 
goes  to  show  that  the  people  of  Yiin-nan  are  not,  as 
some  of  China's  enhghtened  statesmen  and  some  of 
the  ranting  faddists  of  England  and  America  would 
have  us  believe,  falhng  over  one  another  in  their 
zeal  to  free  the  province  from  the  drug. 

The  other  day  some  men  passed  through  several 
towns,  on  the  way  to  the  capital,  carrying  three  coffins. 
In  the  first  was  a  corpse,  the  other  two  were  packed 
with  opium.  Being  suspected  at  Yiin-nan-fu, 
the  first  coffin  was  opened,  and  the  carriers, 
making  as  much  row  as  they  could  because  their 
coffin  had  been  burst  open,  secured  a  fair  "  squeeze  " 
to  hold  their  tongues,  and  the  second  and  third 
coffins  were  passed  unexamined.     Quite  common  is 

*  May,  19 1  o.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  date  makes  no  difference, 
because  unfortunately  the  number  of  suicides  from  opium  does 
not  seem  to  have  decreased  materially  in  Western  China  since 
the  opium  crusade  was  started.  Upon  the  slightest  provocation 
a  Chinese  woman  in  Yiin-nan  will  take  her  life,  and  it  is  probable- 
that  for  the  five  cases  which  came  to  my  notice  through  the 
mission  house  there  were  treble  that  number  which  did  not. — 
E.  J.  D. 

105 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

it  for  men  to  travel  in  armed  bands  from  the  province 
of  Kwei-chow,  travelling  by  night  over  the  moun- 
tains by  lantern-light,  and  hiding  by  day  from  any 
possible  official  searchers. 

Opium,  which  is  and  always  has  been  so  heavily 
taxed,  does  not  in  general  follow  the  ordinary  trade 
routes  on  which  likin  stations  are  numerous,  but 
is  carried  by  these  armed  bands  over  roads  where 
the  native  Customs  stations  are  few,  and  so  poorly 
equipped  as  to  3deld  readily  to  superior  force,  where 
the  men  are  compelled  to  accept  a  composition  much 
below  the  official  rate. 

Opium  smoking  is  still  common  in  Western  China 
among  people  who  can  afford  it.  At  the  time  of  the 
crusade  against  it,  wealthy  people  laid  in  stocks 
enough  to  last  them  for  years  ;  and,  so  long  as  there 
is  smuggling  from  other  provinces  which  do  grow  it 
into  those  which  do  not,  there  will  be  no  danger  of  the 
absolute  extermination  being  carried  successfully  into 
effect.  Kwei-chow,  in  common  with  the  western 
provinces,  has  undeservedly  secured  the  credit  for 
having  practically  abolished  the  poppy  ;  but  at  the 
present  moment  (December,  1909)  she  is  at  a  loss  to 
know  what  to  do  with  her  supply,  and  that  is  the 
reason  why  people  of  Yiin-nan  are  making  bargains  in 
opium  smuggled  over  the  border.  Much  has  3^et  to  be 
done.  To  prevent  the  growth  of  a  plant  which  has 
been  in  China  for  at  least  twelve  centuries,  which  has 
had  medicinal  uses  for  nine,  and  whose  medicinal  pro- 
perties have  laid  in  the  capsule  for  six,  is  not  an  easy 
matter,  far  more  difficult,  in  fact,  than  the  average 
Englishman  and  even  those  who  rant  so  much  about 
the  whole  business  upon  little  knowledge  can 
imagine.  Opium  has  been  made  in  China  for  four 
centuries,  and  although  used  then  with  tobacco,  has 

106 


SUI-FU    TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

been  smoked  since  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century.* 

A  lew  years  ago  Yiin-nan  had  only  two  articles  of 
importance  with  which  to  pay  for  extra  provincial 
products  consumed,  namely  opium  and  tin.  The 
latter  came  from  a  spot  twenty  miles  from  Mengtsz, 
and  the  value  of  the  output  now  runs  to  approxi- 
mately three  million  taels.  Opium  came  from  all 
parts  of  the  province  and  went  in  all  directions, 
that  portion  sent  to  the  Opium  Regie  at  Tonkin 
sometimes  being  close  on  three  thousand  piculs,  and 
the  quantity  going  by  land  into  China  being  very 
much  greater.  Yiin-nan  opium  was  known  at 
Canton  and  Chin-kiang  in  1863.  In  1879,  the 
production  was  variously  estimated  at  from 
twelve  thousand  to  twenty-two  thousand  piculs ; 
in  1887  it  had  risen  to  approximately  twenty- 
seven  thousand  piculs,  and  since  then  to  the  time 
of  the  reform  no  less  certainly  than  thirty  thousand 
piculs. 

One  afternoon,  in  November  of  1909,  the 
execution  ground  of  Yiin-nan-fu  was  the  scene  of  a 
remarkably  daring  proceeding  by  the  officials  in  the 
campaign  for  the  total  suppression  of  opium  in  the 
province.  No  less  than  20,040  ounces  of  prepared 
opium  were  publicly  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  presence 
of  an  enormous  crowd  of  people.  The  officials  of 
the  city  were  present  in  person,  and  everywhere  the 
event  was  looked  upon  as  the  greatest  public  demon- 
stration that  the  people  had  ever  seen. 

*  This  was  written  at  the  end  of  1909.  Now,  in  July,  19 10, 
things  are  changed  wonderfully.  The  rapidity  with  which  China 
is  driving  out  the  poppy  from  province  after  province  is  truly 
remarkable.  In  Szech'wan,  in  April,  1909,  I  passed  miles  and 
miles  of  poppy  along  the  main  road — to-day  there  is  none  to  be 
seen.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Great  Britain  will  do  her  part  as 
faithfully  as  China  is  doing  hers. 

107 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

The  missionary  of  whom  I  enquired  denied  that 
the  infanticide  at  Chao-t'ong  was  very  great — things 
must  be  improving  ! 

Previous  to  my  arrival  at  the  city  I  had  instructed 
my  Enghsh-speaking  boy  to  make  enquiries  in  the 
city,  and  to  let  me  know  afterwards,  whether  girls 
were  still  sold  publicly. 

"  Have  got  plenty,"  he  exclaimed,  in  describing 
this  wholesale  selling  of  female  children  into  slavery. 
"  I  know,  I  know  ;  you  wantchee  makee  buy.  Can 
do  !  You  wantchee  catch  one  piecee  small  baby,  can 
catchee  two,  three  tael.  Wantchee  one  piecee  very 
much  tall,  big  piecee,  can  catch  fifty  dollar." 

Continuing,  he  told  me  that  prices  were  fairly 
high,  a  girl  who  could  boast  good  looks  and  who  had 
reached  an  age  when  her  charms  were  naturally  the 
strongest  fetching  the  alarming  amount  of  three 
hundred  taels.  This  was  the  highest  figure  reached, 
whilst  small  children  could  be  had  for  anything  up 
to  twenty.  This  wholesale  disposal  of  young  girls, 
although  the  traffic  was  in  some  quarters  emphatically 
denied  to  exist — a  denial,  however,  which  was  all 
moonshine — is  one  of  the  chief  sorrows  of  the  district. 
And  well  it  might  be  ;  for  thousands  of  children  are 
disposed  of  in  the  course  of  a  year  for  a  few  taels  by 
heartless  parents,  who  watch  them  being  carried 
away,  like  so  much  merchandise,  to  be  converted  into 
silver,  in  many  cases  in  this  poverty-stricken 
district  merely  to  satisfy  the  craving  for  opium  of 
some  sodden  wretch  of  a  man  who  calls  himself  a 
father.  Time  and  time  again,  long  after  I  myself 
passed  through  Chao-t'ong,  did  I  see  little  girls 
from  three  to  ten  years  of  age  being  conveyed  by 
pack-horse  to  the  capital,  balanced  in  baskets  on 
either  side   of   the   animal.     This   and   the   terrible 

io8 


SUI-FU    TO    CHAO-T'ONG-FU. 

infanticide  which  exists  in  all  poor  districts  of  China 
menaces  the  lives  of  all  well-wishers  of  the  entire 
province  of  Yiin-nan. 

In  the  particular  district  of  which  I  speak  it  is  not 
an  uncommon  sight  to  see  little  children  being  torn 
to  pieces  by  dogs,  the  scavengers  of  the  Empire, 
perhaps  by  the  very  dogs  that  had  been  their  play- 
mates from  birth.  I  have  been  riding  many  times 
and  found  that  my  horse  had  stepped  on  a  human 
skull,  and  near  by  were  the  bones  the  dogs  had  left 
as  the  remains  of  the  corpse. 

Note. — I  should  mention  that,  since  the  above  was  written,  I 
have  lived  and  travelled  a  good  deal  around  Chao-t'ong-fu,  being 
the  only  European  traveller  who  has  ever  penetrated  the  country 
to  the  east  of  the  main  road,  by  which  I  had  now  come  down. 


109 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE  CHAO-T'ONG  REBELLION  OF  1910. 

Digression  from  travel.  How  rebellions  start  in  China. 
Famous  Boxer  motto.  Way  of  escape  shut  off.  Riots 
expected  before  West  can  be  won  into  the  confidence  of 
China.  Boxerism  and  students  of  the  Government  Reform 
Movement.  Author's  impressions  formed  within  the  danger 
zone.  More  Boxerism  in  China  than  we  know  of.  Causes 
of  the  Chao-t'ong  Rebellion.  Halley's  Comet  brings  things 
to  a  climax.  Start  of  the  rioting.  Arrival  of  the  military. 
Number  of  the  rebels.  They  hold  three  impregnable  positions, 
and  block  the  main  roads.  European  ladies  travel  to  the 
city  in  the  dead  of  night.  A  new  ch'en-tai  takes  the  matter 
in  hand.  Rumours  and  suspense.  Stations  of  the  rebels. 
A  night  attack.  Sixteen  rebels  decapitated.  Officials  alter 
their  tactics.  Fighting  on  main  road.  Superstition  regarding 
soldiers.  One  of  the  leaders  captured  by  a  headman.  Chapel 
burnt  down  and  caretaker  rescued  by  military.  Li  the 
Invincible  under  arms.  Huang  taken  prisoner.  Two  leaders 
killed.  Rising  among  the  Miao.  Mission  work  at  a  stand- 
still. Child-stealing,  and  the  Yiin-nan  Railway  rumour. 
Barbaric  punishment .  Tribute  to  Chinese  officials.  British 
Consul-General.  Resume  of  the  position.  An  unfortunate 
incident. 

Despite  the  fact  that  this  chapter  was  the  last 
written — written,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  as  late  as  July 
of  last  year  (1910),  and  posted  from  Chao- 
t'ong-fu — it  has  been  thought  wise  to  place  it 
here.  It  deals  with  the  Chao-t'ong  Rebellion, 
of  which  the  outside  world,  even  when  it  was  at 
its  height,  knew  Httle,  but  which,  so  recently 
as  a  couple  of  months  prior  to  the  date  of  writing^ 
threatened  to  spell  extermination  to  the  foreigners  in 
North-East  Yiin-nan.  And  the  reader,  too,  may 
welcome  a  digression  from  travel. 

no 


THE    CHAO-T'ONG    REBELLION    OF    1910. 

In  spite  of  all  that  has  been  written  in  previous 
and  subsequent  chapters,  and  in  face  of  the  universal 
cry  of  the  progress  China  is  speedily  realising,  of  the 
stoutest  optimism  characteristic  of  the  statesman 
and  of  the  student  of  Chinese  affairs,  a  feehng  of 
deep  gloom  at  intervals  overcomes  one  in  the 
interior — a  fear  of  some  impending  trouble.  There 
is  a  rumour,  but  one  smiles  at  it — there  are  always 
rumours !  Then  there  are  more  rumours,  and  a 
feeling  of  uneasiness  pervades  the  atmosphere  ;  a 
local  bubble  is  formed,  it  bursts,  the  whole  of  one's 
trust  in  the  sincerity  of  the  reform  of  China  and  her 
people  is  brushed  away  to  absolute  unbelief  in  a  few 
days,  and  it  means  either  a  sudden  onrush  and 
brutal  massacre  of  the  foreigners,  or  the  thing  blows 
over  after  a  short  or  long  time  of  great  strain,  and 
ultimately  things  assume  a  normality  in  which  the 
detection  of  the  slightest  ruffle  in  the  surface  of 
social  life  is  hardly  traceable. 

Such  was  the  Chao-t'ong  Rebellion,  luckily  un- 
attended by  loss  of  life  among  the  foreigners.  It  is 
not  yet  over,*  but  it  is  believed  that  the  worst  is 
past. 

At  the  end  of  1909  probably  no  part  of  the  Empire 
seemed  more  peaceful.  Two  months  afterwards 
the  heads  of  the  Europeans  were  demanded  ;  mis- 
sionaries were  guarded  by  armed  soldiers  in  their 
homes  inside  the  city  walls,  and  forbidden  to  go 
outside  ;  native  Christians  were  brutally  maltreated 
and  threatened  with  death  if  they  refused  to  turn 
traitor  to  their  behefs  ;  thousands  of  generally  law- 
abiding  men,  formed  into  armed  bands,  were 
defiantly  setting  at  naught  the  law  of  the  land,  and 
the  whole  of  the  main  road  over  which  I  had  passed 

*   July,  1910. 

Ill 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

from  Siii-fu  to  Tong-ch'uan-fu  (a  distance  of  over 
four  hundred  miles)  was  blocked  by  infuriated  mobs, 
who  were  out  to  kill, — their  motto  the  famous  ill- 
omened  Boxer  motto  of  1900  :  "  Exalt  the  dynasty  ; 
destroy  the  foreigner." 

'*  Kill,  kill,  kill !  "  ran  the  cry  for  miles  around  the 
countryside,  and  a  fearful  repetition  of  the  bloody 
history  of  ten  years  ago  ^^'as  daily  feared.  Provi- 
dential, however,  was  it  that  no  foreigner  was 
travelling  at  the  time  in  these  districts,  and  that 
those  who,  ignorant  of  the  troubles,  desired  to  do  so 
were  stopped  at  Yiin-nan-fu  by  the  Consuls  and  at 
Sui-fu  by  the  missionaries.  It  is  a  matter  for 
gratitude  also  that  throughout  the  riots,  specially 
safeguarded  by  the  great  Providence  of  God,  no 
lives  of  Europeans  were  lost  ;  and  owing  to  the 
praiseworthy  and  obvious  attitude  of  the  mis- 
sionaries in  this  area  in  endeavouring  to  keep  the 
thing  as  quiet  as  possible,  and  the  notoriously  con- 
servative manner  in  which  consular  reports  upon 
such  matters  are  preserved  in  Government  lockers, 
practically  nothing  has  been  heard  of  the  uprising. 

At  times  during  the  four  slow-moving  months, 
however,  the  situation  became,  as  I  shall  endeavour 
to  show,  complicated  in  every  way.  The  escape  of 
the  foreigners  was  made  absolutely  impossible  by 
the  fact  that  the  whole  of  the  roads,  even  those  over 
the  rough  mountains  leading  south,  were  blocked 
successfully  by  the  rebelhng  forces,  and,  when  the 
deep  gloom  settled  finally  over  the  city,  the  fate  of 
the  Westerners  seemed  sealed  and  their  future 
hopeless.  All  round  the  foreigners'  houses  the  people, 
infected  with  that  strange,  unaccountable,  national 
hysteria,  so  terrible  in  the  Chinaman's  temperament, 
rose  up  to  burn  and  kill.     Mayhap  it  means  little 

112 


^^<*^"!,  .. 


Hoiif  the  tribes  -j^'ent  forth  to  brittle. 


„-=^ 


A  fair  sample  of  the  difficult  country  the  rebels  had  to  ucgotiittc. 


Cliaracteristic  representatives  of  the  Miao  faction  of  rebelling  party 


THE    CHAO-T'ONG    REBELLION    OF    1910. 

to  the  man  who  reads.     Massacres  have  always  been 
common  enough  in  China,  he  will  say ;  and  there  are 
thousands  of  people  in  Europe  to-day  who  know  no 
more    about    China    than    what    the    telegrams    of 
massacres  of  European  missionaries  have  told  them. 
Years  ago  one  almost  expected  this  sort  of  thing ;  but  at 
the  present  day,  when  China  is  popularly  supposed  to 
be  working  honestly  to  gain  for  herself  an  honourable 
place  among  the  nations,  it  is  surely  not  to  be  expected 
in  the  ordinary  run  of  things  in  days  of  peace.     ^ 
But  we  know  that  such  visions  are  common  to 
every  European  in  Inland  China,  and  even  at  the 
coast  men  talk  continually  of  and  believe  that  riots 
are  going  to  happen  in  the  near  future.*    Merchant, 
missionary,  traveller  and  official  all  agree  that  there 
is  yet  more  trouble  ahead  before  the  West  will  be 
won  into  the  confidence  of  China  and  vice  versa.     The 
people  who  are  studying  the  Reform  Movement  of  the 
Young  China,  however,  and  who  stolidly  refuse  to 
study  with  it  the  general  attitude  of  the  common 
people,  laugh  and  dismiss  with  contempt  the  subject 
of  the  possibility  of  further  outbreaks  of  Boxerism 
in  the  outlying  parts  of  the  Empire.    But  they  should 
not  laugh.     The  European  cannot  afford  to  laugh, 
and,  if  he  be  a  sensible  fellow,  knows  that  he  cannot 
afford  to  treat  with  contempt  the  opinions  of  the 
people  who  know.     The  more  we  understand    the 
vast    interior  of    China  and  the  conservatism  and 
peculiarities    of    character    of    the    people    of   that 
interior,   the  less  disposed  shall  we  be  to  jest,  the 
less  disposed  to  ridicule,  what  I  would  characterise 
as   the    strongest    and  most  deadly  of   the  hidden 
menaces  of  the  Celestial  Empire. 

*  Evidence  in  support  of  this  fear  is  supplied  in  the  account 
of  the  Hankow  riots  given  in  Appendix  D. 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

One  does  not  wish  to  be  pessimistic,  but  it  is  foolish 
to  close  one's  eyes  to  bare  fact. 

At  the  moment  I  am  writing,  in  the  middle  of 
China,  I  know  that  I  am  safe  enough  here,  but  I  do 
not  disguise  from  myself  that  the  wildest  reports 
are  still  current  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  me 
about  me  and  my  own  kind  in  this  peaceful  city  of 
Tong-ch'uan-fu.  And  it  takes  very  little  to  light  the 
fuse  and  to  cause  a  terrible  explosion  here,  in  common 
with  other  places  in  this  province.  A  man  might  be 
quite  safe  one  day  and  lose  his  head  the  next 
if  he  did  not,  at  times  when  the  rebellious  element  is 
apparent,  conform  strictly  to  the  general  wishes  and 
accepted  customs  of  the  people  among  whom  he  is 
living. 

No,  we  cannot  afford  to  laugh.  We  must  seek 
the  opinion  of  those  people  who  were  confined  within 
the  walls  of  Chao-t'ong  city — the  silence  of  their  own 
homes  broken  up  by  the  distant  uproar  of  a  frantic 
chorus  of  yells  and  angry  disputations,  sounding,  as 
it  were,  their  very  death-knell,  as  if  they  were  to  form 
a  manacled  procession  dragging  their  chains  of 
martyrdom  to  their  own  slow  doom — before  we 
show  contempt  for  the  opinion  of  those  who  would 
tell  the  truth.  There  is  more  of  Boxerism  in  the 
far-away  interior  parts  of  China  than  we  know  of. 

Even  as  late  as  the  middle  of  January  of  the 
present  year  (1910)  there  was  no  rumour  of  any  up- 
rising. About  this  time,  however,  to  supply  a  serious 
deficiency  in  the  revenue  caused  by  the  dropping  of 
the  opium  tax,  since  that  drug  had  ceased  to  be 
grown,  a  general  poll-tax  was  levied,  which  the 
people  refused  to  pay,  and  at  the  same  time  they 
demanded  that  they  be  allowed  again  to  grow  the 

114 


THE    CHAO-T'ONG    REBELLION    OF    1910. 

poppy.  Among  the  population  of  Chao-t'ong-fu,  or 
more  particularly  among  the  people  around  the  city, 
especially  the  tribes-people,  this  additional  tax  was 
supposed  to  have  been  caused  by  the  Europeans,  and 
other  wild  rumours  concerning  the  Tonkin-Yiin-nan 
Railway  (to  be  opened  in  the  following  April) ,  which 
gained  currency  with  remarkable  rapidity,  added  to 
the  unrest.  It  only  required  that  brilhant  phe- 
nomenon of  the  heavens,  with  its  wonderful  tail — none 
other  than  Halley's  Comet — to  bring  the  whole  to  a 
climax.  This  was  altogether  too  much  for  the  super- 
stitious Chinaman,  and  he  looked  upon  the  comet 
as  some  evil  omen  organised  and  controlled  by  the 
foreigner  especially  for  the  working  of  his  own  selfish 
ends  in  the  Celestial  Empire  ;  and  a  number  believed 
it  to  be  a  heavenly  sign  for  the  Chinese  to  strike. 

That  the  riot  was  being  started  was  plain,  but  the 
first  definite  news  the  foreigners  received  was  on 
February  5th,  when  an  I-pien  (one  of  the  tribes), 
whose  little  girl  attended  the  mission  school,  was 
captured  and  compelled  to  join  the  rebelling  forces 
between  T'o-ch'i  (on  the  River  of  Golden  Sand  *) 
and  Sa'i-ho,  in  a  westerly  direction  from  the  town.  A 
march  would  take  place  on  the  fifteenth  of  that 
month,  the  Europeans  would  be  assassinated,  their 
houses  would  be  burned  and  looted — so  ran  the 
rumour.  By  this  date,  for  two  days'  march  in  all 
directions  fromChao-t'ong,  the  rebels  had  camped,  and 
a  motley  crowd  they  were — Mohammedans,  Chinese, 
I-pien,  Hua  Miao,  and  other  hooligans.  Mobilisation 
was  effected  by  spies  taking  round  secret  cases  (the 
ch'uandan)  containing  two  pieces  of  coal  and  a 
feather — a  simile  meaning  that  the  rebels  were  to 
bum  like  fire  and  fly  hke  birds.    Meanwhile,  military 

*  The  local  name  for  the  Yangtze. 
.115 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

forces  had  been  dispatched  from  Yiin-nan-fu,  the 
capital  (twelve  days  away),  and  from  Ch'u-tsing-fu 
(seven  or  eight  days  away),  and  these,  to  the 
strength  of  a  thousand,  now  came  to  the  city,  and  it 
was  thought  that  the  brigadier-general  would  be 
able  to  cope  with  the  trouble  now  that  he  had  so 
many  armed  troops.  Soldiers  patrolled  the  city 
walls  (which,  by  the  way,  had  to  be  built  up  so  that 
the  soldiers  might  be  able  to  get  decent  patrol),  more 
were  stationed  on  the  premises  of  the  Europeans, 
and  every  defensive  precaution  was  taken.  The 
officials  were  in  daily  communication  by  telegraph 
with  the  Viceroy,  and  at  first  the  riot  was  kept  well 
in  hand  by  Government  authorities. 

But  the  rebels  had  by  this  time  got  together  no 
less  than  three  thousand  men,  and  were  holding 
three  impregnable  positions  on  the  adjacent  hills, 
and  had  effectually  cut  off  communication  by  the 
main  road.  Despite  their  numbers,  they  were  afraid 
to  strike,  however,  and  luck}'  it  was  for  the  city 
that  the  leaders  were  not  sufficiently  trusted  by  their 
followers,  many  of  them  pressed  men — men  who 
had  joined  the  rebelling  ranks  merely  to  save  their 
own  necks  and  their  houses.  At  this  time  the 
fen-fu  (a  sort  of  mayor  of  the  city)  demanded  that 
the  missionaries  working  among  the  Hua  Miao,  and 
two  lady  workers  paying  a  visit  to  that  place,  should 
return  from  Shih-men-K'an  (70  H  away),  as  he  could 
not  protect  them  in  the  country.  A  special  mes- 
senger was  dispatched,  demanding  instant  departure, 
and  in  the  dead  of  night — a  bitter  wintry  night,  icy, 
dark,  slippery,  and  cold — these  ladies  came  under 
cover  to  the  city. 

They  reached  the  mission  premises  without 
molestation. 

116 


THE    CHAO-T'ONG    REBELLION    OF    1910. 

By  this  time  a  new  ch'en-tai  (brigadier-general) 
had  arrived  from  the  capital,  having  been  sent  as  a 
man  who  could  handle  the  situation  successfully. 
He  was  a  Liu  Ta  Ren,  who  had  previously  held  office 
in  the  city,  and  whose  reputation  for  strategical 
resource  and  official  cunning  a  Scotland  Yard 
detective  might  envy.* 

Rumours  grew  more  and  more  serious ;  the  man- 
darins went  all  round  the  countryside  endeavouring 
to  pacify  the  people,  and  the  foreigners  could  do 
nothing  but  "  sit  tight  "  through  these  most  trying 
days.  The  suspense  of  being  shut  up  in  one's 
house  during  a  time  of  trouble  of  this  nature, 
hearing  every  rumour  which  lying  tongues  create* 
and  unable  to  get  at  the  facts,  is  far  worse 
than  being  in  the  thick  of  things,  although  this 
would  have  at  once  been  fatal.  But  one  needs 
to  have  lived  in  China  during  such  a  time  to 
understand  the  awful  tension  which  riots  occasion. 

The  rioters  were  stationed  as  follows  : — 

1.  Weining,  in   Kwei-chow,  to 

the  south-east 1,000  men. 

2.  Kiang-ti  Hill,   in  Yiin-nan, 

to  the  south  , .      , .       1,000  men. 

3.  Several    places    around    the 

city,  to  the  west  as  far  as 

the  River  of  Golden  Sand      1,000  men. 

*  This  Liu  was  a  remarkable  man,  quite  unlike  the  average 
mandarin.  He  got  the  name  of  Liu  Ma  Pang,  a  disrespectful 
term,  meaning  that  he  was  fond  of  using  the  stick.  On  a  journey 
towards  Chao-t'ong,  some  years  ago,  he  went  on  ahead  of  his 
retinue  of  men  and  horses,  and  arriving  at  an  inn  at  Tong-ch'uan-fu, 
asked  the  ta  si  fu — the  general  factotum — for  the  best  room, 
and  proceeded  to  walk  into  it.  "  No  you  don't,"  yelled  the 
ta  si  fu,  "  that 's  reserved  for  Liu  Ma  Pang,  and  you  're  not  to  go 
in  there."  After  some  time  Liu's  men  arrived,  and  calling  one  or 
two,  he  said,  "  Take  this  man  "  (pointing  to  the  surprised  ta  si  fu) 
"and  give  him  a  sound  thrashing."     He  stood  by  and  saw  the 

117 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

On  March  13th  a  night  attack  was  expected. 
Breathless,  the  foreigners  waited  in  their  suspense, 
but  it  passed  off  without  serious  damage  being  done- 
On  the  Sunday,  the  missionaries,  almost  at  their  wits' 
end  with  mingled  fear  and  excitement,  occasioned 
by  the  strain  which  weeks  of  anxiety  must  bring  to 
the  strongest,  feared  whether  their  services  would  be 
got  through  in  peace. 

Meetings  were  being  held  all  around  the  city,  and 
gradually  the  mandarins  gained  small  successes. 
Prisoners — miserable  specimens  of  men  fighting  for 
they  hardly  knew  what — were  captured  and  brought 
to  the  city,  and,  on  IMarch  i6th,  sixteen  human  heads, 
thrown  in  as  a  gruesome  mass  into  a  common  basket, 
Avith  upturned  eyes  gaping  into  the  great  unknown, 
hideous-looking  and  bearing  still  the  brutish  stare  of 
hysterical  craving  and  morbid  rage,  were  carried 
by  an  armed  squad  of  military  to  the  yamen. 

They  made  a  ghastly  picture  when  hung  over 
the  gate  of  the  city  to  put  the  fear  of  death  into  the 
hearts  of  their  brutal  compatriots.  The  officials, 
hard-worked  and  themselves  feeling  the  strain  of 
the  whole  business,  and  incidentally  fearful  for  the 
safety  of  their  own  heads,  were  perturbed  all  this 
time  by  rumours  coming  from  Weining,  the  mutineers 
of  which  were  alleged  to  be  the  fiercest  of  the  three 
bands.  Up  to  now  the  officials  had  been  playing  a 
conciliating  game.  They  had  been  trying  vainly  to 
pacify,  but  now  they  found  that  they  had  to  prove 
their  energies  and  their  benevolence  by  acting  the  part 

whacking  administered,  after  which  he  said,  "  That 's  for  speak- 
ing disrespectfully  of  a  mandarin."  Then,  "  Give  him  a  thou- 
sand cash,"  adding,  "  That 's  for  knowing  your  business." 

Some  years  ago  Liu  was  the  means  of  saving  the  life  of  the  late 
Mr.  Litton  (mentioned  later  in  this  book),  at  the  time  he  was 
British  Consul  at  Tengyueh,  when  there  was  fighting  down  in  the 
south  of  Yiin-nan  with  the  Wa's. — E.  J.  D. 

118 


THE    CHAO-T'ONG    REBELLION    OF    1910. 

of  tyrants  rather  than  of  administrators  of  mercy,  by 
warring  rather  than  by  peace-making,  by  fighting  and 
forcing  rather  than  by  concihating  and  persuading. 

On  Easter  Tuesday,  fighting  took  place  on  the  main 
road  to  the  north,  when  the  p en- fu  and  his  men  achieved 
a  creditable  success.  The  rebels  almost  to  a  man 
were  taken,  and  among  the  prisoners  was  a  girl  who 
had  been  distributing  the  beans,  a  lovely  damsel  of 
eighteen,  said  to  have  been  the  fiancee  of  the  leader  of 
that  band.  Both  her  legs  were  shot  through  and  she 
was  considerably  mutilated  ;  but  although  the  pen-fu 
thought  this  sufficient  punishment,  instructions 
came  from  the  capital  that  she  must  die.  She  was 
accordingly  taken  outside  the  city  and  beheaded. 
This  caused  some  consternation  among  the  rebels,  as 
the  death  of  .the  girl  was  looked  upon  as  an  omen  of 
direct  misfortune. 

For  a  very  long  time  she  had  been  going  around 
the  country  dropping  beans  into  the  ground  outside 
any  houses  she  came  across,  the  superstition  being 
that  wherever  a  bean  was  dropped  there  in  the  very 
spot,  perhaps  at  the  very  moment,  for  aught  that 
we  know,  an  invincible  warrior  would  spring  up. 
She  had  dropped  some  millions  of  beans,  but  the 
ranks  were  not  swelled  as  a  consequence. 

The  ch'en-tai  had  also  been  out  all  night,  and  as 
men  were  captured  so  they  were  beheaded  on  the 
spot  without  mercy  and  their  heads  subsequently 
hung  outside  the  city  gates.  The  headman  of  a 
small  village — some  forty  li  from  the  city — succeeded 
in  capturing  one  of  the  leaders,  and  great  credit  was 
due  to  him  ;  but  soon  the  leader  was  rescued  again 
by  his  followers,  who  then  brutally  killed  and 
mutilated  the  body  of  the  headman,  causing  him  to 
undergo  the  ignominy  of  having  his  tongue  and  his 

119 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

heart  cut  out.  Fighting  was  going  on  everywhere,  and 
by  the  end  of  March  things  were  at  their  height. 
The  fact  that  rain  was  badly  needed  tended  only  to 
aggravate  the  situation,  and  that  lustrous  comet 
made  things  worse.  Day  by  day  miserable  processions 
brought  the  wounded  into  the  city,  and  on  the  last 
day  of  the  month,  taken  by  sudden  fright  and  almost 
getting  out  of  hand,  the  panic-stricken  people  raised 
the  cry  that  the  rebels  were  marching  direct  for  the 
city  gates.  Through  the  capital  tactics  adopted 
by  the  mandarins,  however,  this  was  prevented ; 
but,  on  the  following  day,  the  chapel  belonging 
to  the  United  Methodist  Mission  at  an  out- 
station  was  burnt  to  the  ground  and  the  houses  of  the 
people  razed  and  looted.  The  caretaker,  a  faithful 
Hua  Miao  convert,  was  taken,  stripped  of  his  clothing, 
and  threatened  with  an  awful  death  if  he  did  not 
betray  the  foreigners.  He  refused  manfully  to 
divulge  any  information  whatsoever,  and  was  on  the 
point  of  being  sacrificed,  when  the  ch'en-tat  came 
unexpectedly  upon  the  scene  with  his  mihtary. 
He  released  the  Miao,  captured  thirty-six  rebels, 
killed  sixteen  more  where  they  stood,  and  carried 
away  many  of  their  horses  and  the  dreaded  Boxer 
flag  around  which  the  men  rallied. 

And  now  comes  the  smartest  thing  I  heard  of 
throughout  the  rebelHon. 

ri.  man  named  Li  was  the  most  dreaded  of  the  trio 
of  rebel  chiefs,  a  man  of  marvellous  strength,  and 
who  seemed  to  be  able  to  fascinate  his  men  and  get 
them  to  do  anything  he  wished — and  Liu,  the 
ch'en-tat,  set  himself  the  task  of  capturing  him. 
Disguising  himself  in  the  garb  of  a  pedlar,  Liu  went 
out  towards  Li's  camp,  and  met  three  spies  on  the 
look-out  for  a  possible  clue  to  the  foreigners ;  they 

1 20 


0)     '-^ 


--0  —  5 


•^       dj   +;' 


'     "Si'" 


THE    CHAO-T'ONG    REBELLION    OF    1910. 

asked  him  where  the  ch'en-tai  was  and  all  about 
him,  declaring  that  if  he  did  not  tell  them  all  he 
knew  they  would  take  him  to  Li,  and  that  he  would 
then  lose  his  head.  Just  behind  were  a  few  of  Liu's 
best  soldiers.  Strolling  up  quite  casually  as  if  they 
knew  least  in  the  world  of  what  was  going  on,  they 
made  their  arrest,  and  clapped  the  handcuffs  on 
them  before  their  captives  knew  it.  Liu  ordered 
that  two  be  beheaded  immediately,  which  was  done, 
and  the  other  man  was  kept  to  show  where  Li's 
camp  was  and  where  Li  himself  was  hiding. 

And  in  this  way  Li  the  Invincible  was  captured 
also.  This  was  the  master-stroke  of  the  situation. 
Li  was  brought  back  to  the  city  with  many  other 
prisoners  and  a  few  heads,  guarded  by  a  strong  body 
of  the  military. 

Almost  simultaneously,  Huang,  one  of  the  other 
rebel  chiefs,  was  captured  ;  and  at  dusk  one  evening 
Li  was  put  to  death  by  the  slow  process.  Afraid 
that  if  he  were  taken  outside  the  city  his  followers 
might  possibly  recapture  him,  he  was  murdered 
outside  the  chief  yamen,  about  ten  hacks  being 
necessary  by  process  adopted  to  sever  the  head  from 
the  body.  Only  two  men  have  been  put  to  death 
inside  the  walls  since  the  city  of  Chao-t'ong  was 
built,  over  two  hundred  years  ago.  After  death 
had  taken  place,  Li  was  served  in  the  same  way  as  he 
had  served  the  village  headman,  and  his  heart  and 
his  tongue  were  taken  from  his  body.  Huang  was 
killed  in  the  usual  way,  and  his  head  placed  in  a 
frame  on  the  city  gate. 

And  so  there  died  two  of  the  bravest  men  who 
have  headed  rebellions  in  this  part  of  the  country 
of  late  years.  Both  were  handsome  fellows,  of 
magnificent     physique     and     undaunted     courage, 

121 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

worthy  of  fighting  for  a  better  cause.  It  seemed  so 
strange  that  two  such  men  should  have  had  to  die  in 
the  very  bloom  of  life,  when  every  strong  sinew  and 
drop  of  blood  must  have  rebelled  at  such  premature 
dissolution,  and  by  a  death  more  hideous  than  imagi- 
nation can  depict  or  speech  desciibe,  just  at  a  time 
in  China's  awakening  when  such  fellows  might  have 
made  for  the  uplifting  of  their  country.  And  they 
died  because  they  hated  the  foreigner. 

After  further  desultory  fighting,  the  remaining 
leader,  losing  heart,  fled  into  Kwei-chow  province, 
and  for  a  time  was  allowed  to  wander  away  ;  but  later, 
a  sum  of  a  thousand  taels  was  offered  for  him,  dead 
or  alive,  and  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  reward  proving 
too  great  a  bait  for  his  followers.  He  has  probably 
been  given  up.*  In  the  month  of  May  the 
Miao  people  rose  to  prolong  the  rioting,  but  their 
efforts  did  not  come  to  much,  although  guerilla 
warfare  was  prolonged  for  several  weeks,  and 
British  subjects  were  not  allowed  to  travel  over 
the  main  road  beyond  Tong-ch'uan-fu  for  some 
time  after ;  indeed,  as  I  write  (July  ist,  1910), 
permission  for  the  missionaries  to  move  about  is 
still  withheld. 

Then,  following  the  rebellion,  rumours  spread  all 
over  the  province  to  the  effect  that  the  foreigners 
were  on  the  look-out  for  children,  and  were  buying 
up  as  many  as  they  could  get  at  enormous  prices  to 
ch'i  the  railway  to  Yiin-nan-fu,  which  by  this 
time  had  been  opened  to  the  public.  Daily  were 
little  children  brought  to  the  missionaries  and 
offered  for  sale.  Child-stealing  became  common  ;  the 
greatest   unrest   prevailed   again.     Members   of   the 

*  He  was  captured  some  months  afterwards,  I  believe,  at 
Mengtsz. — E.  J.  D. 


122 


THE    CHAO-T'ONG    REBELLION    OF    1910. 

Christian  churches  suffered  persecution,  and  ad- 
herents kept  at  a  safe  distance.  Scholars  forsook 
the  mission  schools.  Foreigners  cautiously  kept 
within  their  own  premises  as  much  as  they  could. 
Mission  work  was  at  a  standstill,  and  all  looked  once 
more  grave  enough.  Two  women,  caught  in  the  act 
of  steaHng  children  at  Chao-t'ong,  were  taken  to  the 
yamen,  hung  in  cages  for  a  time  as  a  warning  to  others, 
and  then  made  to  walk  through  the  streets  shouting, 
"  Don't  steal  children  as  I  have  ;  don't  steal  children 
as  I  have."  If  they  stopped  yeUing,  soldiers 
scourged  them. 

A  man  was  lynched  in  the  pubUc  streets  in  that 
city  for  stealing  a  child,  and  only  by  the  adoption 
of  the  most  stringent  measures,  which  in  England 
would  be  considered  barbaric,  were  the  mandarins 
able  successfully  to  deal  with  the  rumours  and  the 
trouble  thereby  caused.  Even  far  away  down  on 
the  Capital  road,  children  ran  from  me,  and  mothers, 
catching  sight  of  me,  would  cover  up  their  little  ones 
and  run  away  from  me  behind  barred  doors,  so  that 
the  foreigner  should  not  get  them. 

This  latter  trouble  was  felt  pretty  well  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  Yiin-nan,  and  it  must  have 
been  very  disappointing  to  Christian  missionaries 
who  had  been  working  around  the  districts  of  Tong- 
ch'uan-fu  and  Chao-t'ong-fu  for  over  twenty  years, 
and  had  got  into  close  contact  with  scores  of  men 
and  women,  to  see  these  very  people  taking  away 
their  children  so  that  they  should  not  be  bought  up 
by  the  very  missionaries  whose  ministrations  they 
had  listened  to  for  years. 

In  course  of  time,  things  settled  down  again,  but  at 
the  time  my  manuscript  leaves  me  for  the  pubhsher 
the  danger  zone  has  not  been  greatly  reduced. 

123 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

In  concluding  my  few  remarks  on  this  serious  out- 
break, the  Hke  of  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  will  not 
be  seen  again  in  this  province,  it  is  only  fair  to 
chronicle  the  excellent  behaviour  of  the  Chinese 
officials  and  of  the  Viceroy  of  Yiin-nan  in  dealing 
with  the  situation.  Although  he  is  not,  I  believe, 
generally  liked  by  the  people  as  their  ruler,  Li  Chin 
Hsi  did  all  he  could  to  quell  the  riots  speedily,  and 
saw  to  it  that  all  the  officials  in  whose  districts  the 
rebellion  was  raging,  and  who  made  blunders  during 
its  progress,  were  degraded  in  rank.  It  is  difficult 
for  Europeans  thoroughly  to  grasp  the  situation. 
From  Chao-t'ong  to  Yiin-nan-fu,  the  viceregal  seat, 
is  twelve  days'  hard  going,  and  all  communication 
was  done  by  telegraph — seemingly  easy  enough  ; 
but  one  must  not  discount  the  slow  Chinese  methods 
of  doing  things.  Most  of  the  troops  were  twelve  days 
away,  and  in  China— in  backward  Yiin-nan  especially 
— to  mobilise  a  thousand  men  and  march  them 
over  mountains  a  fortnight  from  your  base  is  not 
a  thing  to  be  done  at  a  moment's  notice.  By  the  time 
they  would  arrive,  it  might  have  been  possible  for  all 
the  foreigners  to  have  been  massacred  and  their 
premises  demolished,  especially  as  the  exits  were 
blocked  on  all  sides.  But  no  time  was  lost  and  no 
pains  were  saved ;  and  although  the  Chao-t'ong 
foreign  residents,  who  suffered  in  suspense  more 
than  most  missionaries  are  called  upon  to  suffer,  may 
differ  with  me  in  this  opinion,  I  believe  that  not  one 
of  the  officials  who  took  part  in  endeavours  to  keep 
the  riots  from  assuming  more  actually  dangerous 
proportions  could  have  done  more  than  was  done. 
If  a  man  neglected  his  duty  he  lost  his  button,  and 
he  deserved  nothing  else. 

In  Mr.  P.  O'Brien  Butler,  the  able  British  Consul- 


124 


THE    CHAO-T'ONG    REBELLION    OF    1910. 

General,  the  British  subjects  had  the  greatest  confi- 
dence. He  might  have  erred  in  having  decHned 
from  harassing  the  Chinese  Foreign  Office  to  grant 
permission  and  protection  to  Britishers  who  wished 
to  travel  after  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion  had  been 
captured,  but  he  undoubtedly  erred  on  the  right  side. 
An  unfortunate  incident  for  the  United  Methodist 
missionaries  was  the  fact  that  the  Rev.  Charles 
Stedeford,  who  was  sent  out  by  the  Connexion  to 
visit  the  whole  of  the  mission  fields,  was  able  to  come 
only  so  far  as  Tong-ch'uan-fu,  and  was  forced  to 
return  to  Europe  without  having  seen  any  of  the 
magnificent  work  among  the  Hua  Miao. 

After  my  manuscript  went  forward  to  my  pub- 
lishers, permission  to  travel  and  protection  were 
granted  to  British  subjects  again  on  the  main  road 
leading  up  to  the  Yangtze  Valley.  The  author  was 
the  first  Britisher  to  go  from  Tong-ch'uan-fu  to 
Chao-t'ong-fu,  and  as  I  write,  as  late  as  the  middle 
of  July,  1910,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  unwise 
to  travel  over  this  road  for  a  long  time  to  come, 
unless  it  is  absolutely  imperative  to  do  so.  At 
Kiang-ti  I  had  considerable  trouble  in  getting  a 
place  to  sleep  at,  and  I  was  glad  when  I  had  passed 
Tao-iien, 

At  the  invitation  of  missionaries  working  among 
them,  I  then  spent  some  months  in  residence  and 
travel  in  Miao-land,  and  only  regret  that  it  is  not 
possible  for  an  extended  account  of  my  experiences — 
always  as  bad  as  anything  one  is  called  to  face  in 
ordinary  travel  along  the  main  road  in  China — to 
appear  here.  I  hope,  however,  subsequently  to 
publish  a  work  which  shall  furnish  some  additional 
facts  about  the  ethnology  of  this  part  of  the  world. 

125 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN, 
AND  MISSION  WORK  AMONG  THEM. 

Men  who  came  through  Yiin-nan  twenty  years  ago 
wrote  of  its  doctors  and  its  medicines,  its  poverty 
and  its  infanticide.  There  seemed  Httle  else  to 
speak  of. 

Although  the  tribes  were  here  then — and  in  a 
rawer  state  even  then  than  they  are  at  the  present 
time — little  was  known  about  them,  and  men  had 
not  yet  developed  the  cult  of  putting  their  opinions 
upon  this  most  absorbing  topic  into  print.  To-day, 
however,  scores  of  men  in  Europe  are  eagerly  de- 
vouring every  line  of  copy  they  can  get  hold  of  bearing 
upon  this  fascinating  ethnological  study.  Mission- 
aries are  plagued  by  inquiries  for  information  respect- 
ing the  tribes  of  Western  China,  and  it  is  a  curious 
feature  of  the  situation  that,  with  each  article  or 
book  coming  before  the  public  contradiction  follows 
contradiction,  and  very  few  people — not  even  those 
resident  in  the  areas  and  working  among  the  tribes — 
can  agree  absolutely  upon  any  given  points  in  their 
data.  The  numerous  non-Chinese  tribes  I  met  in 
China  formed  one  of  the  most  interesting,  and  at  the 
same  time  most  bewildering,  features  of  my  travel ; 
and  I  can  quite  agree  with  Major  H.  R.  Davies,*  who 
tackles  the  tribe  question  with  considerable  ability 
in  his  book  on  Yiin-nan,  when  he  says  that  it  is  safe 
to  assert  that  in  hardly  any  part  of  the  world  is  there 

*  Yiin-nan,  The  Link  between  India  and  the  Yangtze,  by  Major 
H.  R.  Davies.     Cambridge  University  Press. 

126 


THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

such  a  large  variety  of  languages  and  dialects  as  are 
to  be  found  in  the  country  which  lies  between  Assam 
and  the  eastern  border  of  Yiin-nan,  and  in  the  Indo- 
Chinese  countries  to  the  north  of  that  region.  The 
reason  for  it  is  generally  ascribed  to  the  physical 
characteristics  of  the  country,  the  high  mountain 
ranges  and  deep,  swift-flowing  rivers,  which  have 
brought  about  the  differences  in  customs  and  lan- 
guage and  the  innumerable  tribal  distinctions  so 
perplexing  to  him  who  would  put  himself  in  the 
position  of  an  inquirer  into  Indo-Chinese  ethnology. 
I  know  more  than  one  gentleman  in  Yiin-nan  at  the 
present  moment  having  under  preparation  manu- 
script upon  this  subject  intended  for  subsequent 
pubhcation,  and  I  feel  sure  that  their  efforts  will  add 
valuable  information  to  the  all  too  limited  supply 
now  obtainable.  In  the  meantime,  I  print  my  own 
impressions. 

I  should  like  it  to  be  known  here,  however,  that  I 
do  not  in  any  way  whatsoever  put  myself  forward  as  an 
authority  on  the  question.  I  had  not,  at  the  time  thi^ 
was  written,  laid  myself  out  to  make  any  study  of  the 
subject.  But  the  fact  that  I  have  lived  in  North-East 
Yiin-nan  for  a  year  and  a  half,  and  have  travelled  from 
one  end  of  the  province  to  the  other,  in  addition  to 
having  come  across  tribes  of  people  in  Szech'wan,  may 
justify  me  in  the  eyes  of  the  reader  for  placing  on 
record  my  own  impressions  as  a  general  contribution 
to  this  most  exciting  discussion.  I  also  lived  at 
Shih-men-K'an  (mentioned  in  the  last  chapter), 
among  the  Hua  Miao  for  several  months,  travelled 
fairly  considerably  in  the  unsurveyed  hill  country 
where  they  live,  and  am  the  only  man,  apart  from 
two  other  missionaries,  who  has  ever  been  over  that 
wonderful  country  lying  to  the  extreme  north-east 

127 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

of  Yiin-nan.  One  trip  I  made,  extending  over  three 
weeks,  will  ever  remain  with  me  as  a  memorable  time, 
but  I  regret  that  I  have  no  space  in  this  volume  for 
even  the  merest  reference  to  my  journey. 

Some  of  my  friends  in  China  might  say  sarcastically 
that  mankind  is  destined  to  arrive  at  years  of  dis- 
cretion, and  that  I  should  have  knowTi  better  than  to 
include  in  my  book  anything,  however  well  founded,  of 
a  nature  tending  to  continue  the  wordy  strife  touching 
this  vexed  question  of  Mission  Work,  and  that  no 
matter  how  strikingly  set  forth,  this  is  an  old  and 
obsolete  story,  fit  only  to  be  finally  done  with.  It  is 
for  such  to  bear  with  me  in  what  I  shall  say. 
There  are  thousands  of  men  in  the  West  who  are 
entirely  ignorant  of  men  in  China  other  than  the 
ordinary  Han  Ren,  and  if  I  enlighten  them  never 
so  little,  then  this  chapter  will  have  served  an 
admirable  end. 

In  North-East  Yiin-nan  the  tribes  I  came  most 
in  contact  with  were  : — 

(i)  The  Miao  or  Miao-tze,  as  the  Chinese  call 
them  ;  or  the  Mhong  or  Hmao,  as  they 
call  themselves. 

(ii)  The  I-pien  (or  E-pien),  as  the  Chinese  call 
them  ;  or  the  Nou  Su  (or  Ngo  Su),  as  they 
call  themselves. 

Probably  the  Nou  Su  tribes  are  what  Major  Davies 
calls  the  Lolo  Group  in  his  third  division  of  the  great 
Tibeto-Burman  Family ;  but  I  merely  suggest  it,  as 
it  strikes  me  that  the  other  branches  of  that  group, 
including  the  Li-su,  the  La-hu,  and  the  Wo-ni,  seem 
to  be  descendants  of  a  larger  group,  of  which  the 
Nou  Su  predominate  in  numbers,  language,  and 
customs.     However,  this  by  the  way. 

128 


^A 


:^^ 


'-%•■  '  ^ 

-i.-^ 


Svl' 


■< 


'O 


CO    TJ' 


~     ^ 


5    ^ 


H 


THE   TRIBES    OF   NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

It  may  not  be  common  knowledge  that  in  most 
parts  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  even  to-day,  there  are 
tribes  of  people,  essentially  non-Chinese,  who  still 
rigidly  maintain  their  independence,  governed  by 
their  own  native  rulers  as  they  were  probably  forty 
centuries  ago,  long  before  their  kingdoms  were 
annexed  to  China  Proper.  There  are  white  bones 
and  black  bones,  noses  long  and  flattened,  eyes 
straight  and  oblique,  swarthy  faces,  faces  yellow  and 
white,  coal-black  and  brown  hair,  and  many  other 
physical  peculiarities  differentiating  one  tribe  from 
another. 

In  many  instances,  these  tribes,  conquered  slowly 
by  the  encroaching  Chinese  during  the  long  and 
tedious  term  of  centuries  marking  the  growth  of 
the  Chinese  Empire  to  its  present  immensity,  are 
allowed  to  maintain  their  social  independence  under 
their  own  chiefs,  who  are  subject  to  the  control  of 
the  Government  of  China — which  means  that 
excessive  taxation  is  paid  to  the  yamen  functionary, 
who  extorts  money  from  anybody  and  everybody 
he  can  get  into  his  clutches,  and  then  gives  a  free 
hand.  Others,  in  a  further  state  of  civilisation, 
have  been  gradually  absorbed  by  the  Chinese  and 
are  now  barely  distinguishable  from  the  Han  Ren 
(the  Chinaman).  And  others,  again,  adopting 
Chinese  dress,  customs  and  language,  would  give  the 
traveller  a  rough  time  of  it  were  he  to  suggest  that 
they  are  any  but  pure  Chinese.  To  the  ethnological 
student,  it  is  obvious  that  so  soon  as  the  Chinese 
have  tyrannised  sufficiently  and  in  their  own  inimit- 
able way  preyed  upon  these  feudal  landlords  enough 
to  warrant  their  lands  being  confiscated,  reducing 
a  tribe  to  a  condition  in  which,  far  removed  from 
districts  where  co-tribesmen  live,  they  have  no  status, 

129 
10 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the  aboriginals  throw  in  their  lot  gradually  with 
the  Chinese,  and  to  all  intents  and  purposes  become 
Chinese  in  language,  customs,  trade  and  life.  This 
absorption  by  the  Chinese  of  many  tribes,  stretching 
from  the  Burmese  border  to  the  eastern  parts  of 
Szech'wan,  whilst  an  interesting  study,  shows  that 
the  onward  march  of  civilisation  in  China  will 
sweep  all  racial  relicts  from  the  face  of  this  great 
awakening  Empire. 

But  at  the  same  time  there  are  many  branches  of 
a  tribal  family,  some  found  as  far  west  as  British 
Burma  and  all  more  or  less  scattered  and  disor- 
ganised as  the  result  of  this  silent  oppression  going 
on  through  the  years,  who  still  are  ambitious  of 
preserving  their  independent  isolation,  particularly 
in  sparsely  -  populated  spheres  far  removed  from 
political  activity.  So  remote  are  the  districts  in 
which  these  principalities  are  found,  that  the  Chinese 
themselves  are  entirely  ignorant  of  the  characteristics 
of  these  tribes.  They  say  of  one  tribe  which  is 
scattered  all  over  China  Far  West  that  they  all 
have  tails  ;  and  of  another  tribe  that  the  men  and 
women  have  two  faces  !  And  into  the  official  re- 
cords published  by  the  Imperial  Government  the 
grossest  inaccuracies  creep  concerning  the  origin  of 
these  peoples. 

Yiin-nan  and  Szech'wan — and  a  great  part  of 
Kwei-chow — in  the  main  still  untouched  by  the 
increased  taxation  necessary  to  provide  revenue  to 
uphold  the  reforms  brought  about  by  the  forward 
movement  in  various  parts  of  the  Empire,  are  where 
the  aboriginal  population  is  most  evident.  This 
part  of  the  Empire  might  be  called  the  ethnological 
garden  of  tribes  and  various  races  in  various  stages 
of    uncivilsation.     These   secluded  mountain   areas, 


130 


THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

their  unaltered  conditions  still  telling  forth  the 
story  of  the  world's  youth,  have  been  the  cradle  and 
the  death-bed  of  nations,  of  vigorous  and  ambitious 
tribes  bent  on  conquest  and  a  career  of  glory." 

The  Miao. 

Of  the  Miao,  with  its  various  sections,  we  know  a 
good  deal.  Their  real  home  has  been  pretty  finally 
decided  to  be  in  Kwei-chow  province,  and  they  pro- 
bably in  former  times  extended  far  into  Hu-nan,  the 
Chinese  of  these  provinces  at  the  present  time  having 
undoubtedly  a  good  deal  of  Miao  blood  in  their  veins. 
They  are  comparatively  recent  arrivals  in  Yiin-nan, 
but  are  gradually  extending  farther  and  farther  to 
the  west,  maintaining  their  language  and  their  dress 
and  customs.  I  personally  found  them  as  far  west  as 
thirty  miles  beyond  Tali-fu,  a  little  off  the  main  road, 
but  Major  Davies  found  them  far  up  on  the  Tibetan 
border.  He  says  :  "  The  most  westerly  point  that 
I  have  come  across  them  is  the  neighbourhood  of 
Tawnio  (lat.  23°  40',  long.  98°  45').  Through  Central 
and  Northern  Yiin-nan  they  do  not  seem  to  exist, 
but  they  reappear  again  to  the  north  of  this  in 
Western  Szech'wan,  where  there  are  a  few  villages 
in  the  basin  of  the  Yalung  River  (lat.  28°  15',  long. 
101°  40)." 

The  Major  was  evidently  ignorant  of  this  Miao 
district  of  Chao-t'ong,  to  the  north-east  of  the  pro- 
vince. Stretching  three  days  from  Tong-ch'uan-fu 
right  away  on  to  Chao-t'ong,  in  a  north  line,  Miao 
villages  are  met  with  fairly  well  the  whole  way  ; 
then,  three  days  from  Tong-ch'uan-fu,  in  a  north- 
westerly direction,  we  come  to  the  Miao  village  of 
Loh-in-shan  ;  and  then,  striking  south-west,  through 
country    absolutely   unsurveyed   part    of   the   way, 

131 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

Sa-pu-shan  is  met.  This  last  place  is  the  head- 
quarters of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  where,  at  the 
present  rate  of  progress,  one  might  modestly  esti- 
mate that  in  twenty  years  there  will  be  no  less  than  a 
million  people  receiving  Christian  teaching.  These 
are  not  all  Miao,  however  ;  there  are  besides  La-ka, 
Li-su,  and  many  other  tribes  with  which  we  have 
no  concern  at  the  present  moment. 

So  that  it  may  be  seen  that  from  Yiin-nan-fu,  the 
capital,  in  areas  on  either  side  of  the  main  road 
leading  up  to  the  bifurcation  of  the  Yangtze  below 
Sui-fu,  in  a  long,  narrow  neck  running  between  the 
River  of  Golden  Sand  and  the  Kwei-chow  border,  Miao 
are  met  with  constantly.  And  then,  of  course,  over 
the  river,  in  Szech'wan,  they  are  met  with  again,  and  in 
Kwei-chow,  further  west,  we  have  their  real  home. 

It  is  a  far  cry  from  Miao-land  to  Malaysia,  but  as 
I  get  into  closer  contact  with  the  Miao  people,  the 
more  do  I  find  in  them  many  common  ways  of  every- 
day customs  and  points  of  character  akin  to  the 
Malays  and  the  Sakai  (the  jungle  hill  people  of  the 
Malay  Peninsula),  among  whom  I  have  travelled. 
Their  modes  of  living  contain  many  points  in 
common.  Ethnologists  probably  may  smile  at 
this  assertion,  the  same  as  I,  who  have  lived  among 
the  Miao,  have  smiled  at  a  good  deal  which  has  come 
from  the  pens  of  men  who  have  not. 

In  this  area  there  are  two  great  branches  of  the 
Miao  race  : — 

(i)  The  Hua  Miao — The  Flowery  (or  White)  Miao. 

(ii)  The  Heh  Miao — The  Black  Miao. 

The  latter  are  considered  as  the  superior  of  the 
two  sections,  speak  a  different  tongue,  and  differ  more 
or  less  widely  in  their  methods,  dress  and  customs,  a 

132 


lliid  Miao  lit  dinner. 

These  people  live  chiefly  on  maize,  and  are  extremely  poor.  The 
author  has  often  eaten  maize,  ground  by  the  old-fashioned  mill,  and 
boiled  like  rice.  It  is  the  nearest  thing  to  saw-dust  that  can  be 
imagined. 


A   Cliincsc  jamily. 
The  third  from  the  left  is  a  Minchia  girl 


THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

study  of  which  would  lead  one  into  a  lifetime  of 
interminable  disquisitions,  at  the  end  of  which  one 
would  be  little  more  enlightened.  Those  who  wish 
to  study  the  question  of  inter-racial  differences  of 
the  Miao  are  referred  to  Mr.  Clarke's  Kwei-chow 
and  Yiin-nan  Provinces,  Prince  Henri  d'Orleans' 
Du  Tonkin  aux  Indes,  and  Mr.  Baber's  works. 
Major  Davies  also  gives  ^some  new  information  con- 
cerning this  hill  people,  and  is  generally  correct  in 
what  he  says ;  but  in  his,  as  in  all  the  books  which 
touch  upon  the  subject,  the  language  tests  vary  con- 
siderably. In  Chao-t'ong  and  the  surrounding  dis- 
tricts, for  instance,  the  traveller  would  be  unable  to 
make  any  progress  with  the  vocabulary  which  the 
Major  has  compiled.  I  was  unable  to  make  it  tally 
with  the  spoken  language  of  the  people,  and  append  a 
table  showing  the  differences  in  the  phonetic — and  I 
do  it  with  all  respect  to  Major  Davies.  I  ought  to 
add  that  this  is  the  north-east  comer  of  Yiin-nan 
language ;  that  of  Major  Davies  is  taken  from  page  339 
of  his  book.  He  says  that  the  words  given  by 
him  will  not  be  found  to  correspond  in  every  case  with 
those  in  the  Miao  vocabulary  in  the  pocket  of  the 
cover  of  his  book,  and  some  have  been  taken  from 
other  Miao  dialects.  However,  the  comparison  will 
be  interesting  : — 

N-E.  Yiin- 
English  Word.  Major  Davies's  Miao.  nan  Miao. 

Man  (human  being)  Tan-neng,  Tam-ming    Teh-neh. 

Son  To,  T'am-t'ong         . .   Tu. 

Eye  K'a-mwa,  Mai  . .      . .  A-ma. 

Hand  Api Tee. 

Cow  Nyaw,  Nga       . .      . .  Niu. 

Pig  Teng Npa. 

Dog  Khe,  Ko Klee. 

133 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

N.-E.  Yun- 
English  Word.  Major  Davies's  Miao.  nan  Miao. 

Chicken  .  .      .  .    Ka,  Kei     Ki. 

Silver      Nya Nieh. 

River      Tiang Glee. 

Paddy Mblei  Nglee. 

Cooked  Rice . .      . .   Mao Va. 

Tree        Ndong       Ntao. 

Fire         To       Teh, 

Wind      Chwa,  Chiang   . .      . .  Chia. 

Earth     Ta       Ti . 

Sun         Hno,  Nai Hnu. 

Moon      Hla Hlee. 

Big         Hlo Hlo. 

Come      Ta      Ta. 

Go Mong         Mao. 

Drink      Ho      Hao, 

One         A.  Yi         Ih. 

Two        Ao       Ah. 

Three      Pie,  Po      Tsz. 

Four       Pei,  Plou Glao. 

Five        Pa       Peh. 

Six  Chou Glao. 

Seven     Shiang,  I Shiang. 

Eight      Yi,  Yik     Yih. 

Nine       Chio Chia, 

Ten         Ch'it Kao, 

The  Miao  language  was  until  a  year  or  two  ago 
only  spoken  ;  it  was  never  written,  and  no  one  ever 
dreamed  that  it  could  be  written.  At  the  time  of  the 
great  Miao  revival,  when  thousands  of  Miao  made  a 
raid  on  the  mission  premises  at  Chao-t'ong,  and 
implored  the  missionaries  to  come  and  teach  them, 
it  was  found  absolutely  necessary  that  the  language 

134 


THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

should  be  reduced  to  writing,  and  the  whole  of  this 
extremely  creditable  work  fell  to  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Pollard,  who  may  be  characterised  as  the  pioneer 
of  this  Christianising  movement  in  North -East 
Yiin-nan. 

In  reducing  the  language  to  writing,  however,  con- 
siderable difficulty  was  complicated  by  the  presence 
of  "  tones,"  so  well  known  to  all  students  of  Chinese, 
itself  said  to  be  an  invention  of  the  Devil.  Tones 
introduce  another  element  or  dimension  into  speech. 
The  number  of  sounds,  not  being  sufficient  for  the 
reproduction  of  all  the  spoken  ideas,  has  been 
multiplied  by  giving  these  various  sounds  in  different 
tones.  It  is  as  if  the  element  of  music  were  intro- 
duced according  to  rule  into  speech,  and  as  if  one  had 
not  only  to  remember  the  words  in  everything  he 
wished  to  say,  but  the  tune  also. 

The  Miao  people  being  so  low  down  in  the  intellec- 
tual scale,  and  having  never  been  accustomed  to 
study,  it  was  felt  by  the  promoters  of  the  written 
language  that  they  should  be  as  simple  as  possible, 
and  hence  they  looked  about  for  some  system 
which  could  be  readily  grasped  by  these  ignorant 
people.  It  was  necessary  that  the  system  be 
absolutely  phonetic  and  understood  easily.  By 
adapting  the  system  used  in  shorthand,  of 
putting  the  vowel  marks  in  different  positions 
by  the  side  of  the  consonant  signs,  Mr.  Pollard 
and  his  assistant  found  that  they  could  solve 
their  problem.  The  signs  for  the  consonants  are 
larger  than  the  vowel  signs,  and  the  position  of  the 
latter  by  the  side  of  the  former  gives  the  tone  or 
musical  note  required. 

At  the  present  time  there  are  thousands  of  Miao 
now  able  to  read  and  write,  and  the  work  of  this 


^35 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

enterprising  missionary  has  conferred  an  inestimable 
boon  upon  this  people.  When  I  went  among  the 
Miao  I  was  able,  after  ten  minutes'  instruction,  to 
stand  up  and  sing  their  hymns  and  read  their  gospels 
with  them.  Miao  women,  who  heretofore  had  never 
hoped  to  read,  are  now  put  in  possession  of  the  Word 
of  God,  and  the  simplicity  of  the  written  language 
enables  them  almost  at  once  to  read  the  Story  of  the 
Cross.  Surely  this  is  one  of  the  outstanding  features 
of  mission  work  in  the  whole  of  China.  I  hope  at 
some  future  date  to  pubKsh  a  work  devoted  exclu- 
sively to  my  travels  among  the  Hua  Miao,  for  I  feel 
that  their  story,  no  matter  how  simply  written,  is  one 
of  the  great  untold  romances  of  the  world.  As  a 
people,  they  are  extremely  fascinating  in  life  and 
customs,  emotional,  large-hearted,  and  absolutely 
distinct  from,  with  hardly  a  manner  of  daily  life  in 
common  with,  the  Chinese. 


MISSION    WORK   AMONG   THE    MIAO. 

Whilst  referring  to  mission  work,  it  is  a  great 
privilege  for  the  writer  to  add  a  word  of  most  de- 
served eulogy  of  the  United  Methodist  Mission  at 
Chao-t'ong  and  Tong-ch'uan-fu,  and  to  the  kindness 
shown  by  the  missionaries  towards  me  when  I  came, 
an  absolute  stranger,  among  them  in  May,  1909.  It 
is  to  two  members  of  this  Mission  that  I  owe  a  life- 
long debt  of  gratitude,  for  it  was  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Evans, 
of  Tong-ch'uan-fu,  who  saved  my  life,  a  week  or  two 
after  I  left  Chao-t'ong,  as  is  recorded  in  a  subse- 
quent chapter. 

It  was  in  the  old  days  of  the  Bible  Christian 
Mission — than  which  the  individual  members  of  no 
mission  in  the  whole  of  China  worked  with  more 

136 


THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

zeal  and  lower  stipends — that  a  most  interesting 
development  in  the  mission  took  place. 

The  mass  of  the  Miao  are  the  serfs  of  the  descen- 
dants of  their  ancient  kings,  who  are  large  land- 
owners, and  the  Miao  are  tenants.  In  1905  the 
Miao  heard  of  the  Gospel,  and  came  to  listen  to  the 
preaching,  and  thousands  came  in  batches  at  one 
time  and  another  to  the  mission  house.  Their 
movements  thus  aroused  suspicion  among  the 
Chinese,  there  was  a  good  deal  of  persecution  and 
personal  violence,  and  at  one  time  it  looked  as 
if  there  might  be  serious  trouble.  But  the  danger 
quieted  down.  The  chieftain  gave  land,  the  Miao 
contributed  one  hundred  pounds  sterling,  and  them- 
selves put  up  a  chapel  large  enough  to  accommodate 
six  hundred  people.  A  year  later,  a  thousand  at  a 
time  crowded  their  simple  sanctuary,  and  in  1907 
nearly  six  thousand  were  members  or  probationers, 
and  the  work  has  steadily  progressed  ever 
since. 

I  am  indebted  to  the  Rev.  H.  Parsons,  who  had 
charge  of  the  work  at  the  time  I  passed  through  this 
district,  and  whose  guest  I  was  for  several  months, 
for  the  following  interesting  details  regarding  the 
methods  adopted  in  the  running  of  this  enormous 
mission  field.  Mr.  Parsons  is  assisted  in  his 
work  by  his  genial  wife,  who  is  a  most  ardent 
worker,  and  a  capable  Miao  linguist.  Mrs. 
Parsons  regularly  addresses  congregations  of  several 
hundreds  of  Miao,  and  has  travelled  on  journeys 
often  with  her  husband  ;  and  such  work  as  hers,  with 
several  others  in  this  mission,  is  a  testimony  to  the 
wisdom  of  a  system  advocating  the  increase  of  the 
number  of  lady  workers  on  the  mission  field  in 
China. 


137 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

"  The  present  system  of  teaching  has  been  gradually 
evolved — new  conditions  and  developments  have 
called  for  fresh  methods.  Various  plans  to  teach 
the  people  have  been  tried,  and  only  those  which  have 
by  experience  been  proved  successful  have  been 
adopted.  Considerable  thought  has  been  given  to 
securing  systematic  teaching  of  Bible  truths  in  every 
village.  The  number  of  Miao  more  or  less  under 
Christian  instruction  in  the  districts  supervised  from 
Stone  Gateway  (the  residence  of  the  missionary-in- 
-charge)  may  be  from  eight  thousand  to  ten  thousand. 
Between  three  and  four  thousand  have  received 
baptism,  of  whom  a  number  are  failing  to  show  by 
<:onsistent  living  the  reality  of  their  profession. 
Large  numbers,  however,  are  satisfactory.  Over  a 
score  of  chapels  and  preaching  places  have  been 
■opened  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  Christians  in  the 
various  districts,  which  cover  an  area  of  ten  thousand 
■square  miles.  The  buildings  are  of  mud,  covered  in 
most  cases  with  a  thatch.  Nothing  could  be  more 
rough  or  inexpensive,  yet  to  these  children  of  the 
hills  they  are  of  much  worth,  not  for  their  intrinsic 
value,  but  for  what  they  represent.  The  Miao  re- 
:gard  them  as  the  centres  of  light  and  liberty,  the 
birthplaces  of  a  new  hope  and  eternal  life. 

"  The  ideal  kept  in  view  is  to  make  the  movement 
self-supporting.  The  people  were  encouraged  to 
build  their  own  chapels,  and,  therefore,  they  are  no 
charge  practically  upon  the  mission  funds.  To  keep 
their  pulpits  supplied  regularly,  a  band  of  preachers 
has  been  selected  and  given  some  training,  and  now 
•sixteen  men  give  their  whole  time  to  this  work,  for 
Avhich  they  receive  the  sum  of  £3  per  annum  for 
food,  clothing  and  all  personal  expenses.  An  addi- 
tional allowance  of  about  two  shillings  a  man  per 

138 


THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

annum  is  made  for  the  purchase  of  straw  sandals. 
To  supplement  the  "  regular  "  preachers,  a  small 
tand  of  the  most  trusted  laymen  has  been  chosen, 
and  these  men,  styled  local  preachers,  preach  on 
Sundays,  and  return  to  their  farming  on  the  following 
•day.  They  are  not  paid,  but  receive  a  few  pence  a 
year  for  sandals.  Preaching  of  both  '  regulars  '  and 
'  locals  '  is  on  the  whole  satisfactory,  and  their 
-efforts  are  appreciated  by  their  fellow-tribesmen. 

"  Efforts  are  constantly  made  to  reach  the  many 
thousands  of  Miao  who  have  not  accepted  Christianity ; 
therefore,  a  band  of  thirty  men,  supported  largely  by 
generous  grants  from  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  and  the  West  China  Religious  Tract  Society, 
itinerate  in  pairs  among  the  villagers  as  colporteurs 
and  Bible  readers.  To  enable  the  missionary  to  keep 
in  touch  with  every  section  of  the  field,  deacons  have 
been  appointed  in  every  village,  their  duties  being 
to  conduct  services  in  their  villages  every  night, 
generally  to  look  after  the  spiritual  welfare  of  their 
people,  to  keep  the  Christians  of  the  field  in  touch 
with  their  fellow-believers  and  the  missionary  by 
attending  conferences  of  workers  and  deacons,  which 
are  held  periodically.  These  men  also  supply  the 
names  of  persons  who  have  removed  to  other  villages 
or  who  have  died,  and  collect  the  levies  made  for  the 
carrying  on  of  the  work.  Changes  are  made  in  the 
deacons  every  two  years,  and  the  appointment  made 
by  vote  of  the  people. 

"Day  schools  form  an  important  part  of  the  work 
among  the  Miao.  Under  normal  circumstances,  ten 
schools  are  conducted.  Both  boys  and  girls  (only  a 
few  of  the  latter  as  yet)  are  taught  to  read  and  to 
write  the  Chinese  and  the  Miao  characters,  and  are 
given  elementary  training  in  a  few  Western  subjects. 

139 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

Strenuous  efforts  are  also  being  made  to  purify  the 
home  Ufe  by  setting  up  a  high  standard  of  morals. 
Lax  observance  of  the  marriage  bond  is  strongly 
discountenanced  ;  the  people  are  taught  to  break 
with  all  the  old  evil  practices,  and  to  live  pure  and 
sober  lives.  Old  customs  die  hard,  however,  and  the 
battle  is  not  yet  finished. 

"  Wizards  have  proved  a  source  of  great  trouble. 
Very  superstitious  are  the  Miao,  and  hold  in  awe  any 
p>erson  who  professes  to  be  able  to  peer  into  the 
future  and  to  influence  the  destiny  of  their  fellows. 
These  wizards  exert  every  power  to  oppose  the 
missionaries,  and  the  work  is  often  hindered,  some- 
times actually  destroyed,  by  these  men.  The  Miao 
are  much  afraid  of  sickness.  To  enable  them  to 
throw  off  some  of  the  evil  effects  of  previous  vicious 
living,  and  to  regain  health.  Dr.  Lewis  Savin  and 
Dr.  Lilian  M.  Grandin,  who  are  at  the  hospital  at 
Chao-t'ong,  come  out  regularly,  and  have  been  the 
means  of  bringing  a  blessing  to  thousands. 

"Generally  speaking,  the  work  of  the  United 
Methodist  Mission  among  the  Hua  Miao  has  many 
signs  of  a  vigorous  healthy  growth." 

"  Those  who  know  it  best,"  concludes  Mr.  Parsons, 
"  love  it  most,  and  entertain  the  strongest  hopes  of  a 
successful  future." 

The  Nou-su  (or  I-pien). 
There  is  a  class  of  people  around  Chao-t'ong  who 
are  called  Nou-su,  a  people  who,  although  occupying 
the  Chao-t'ong  Plain  at  the  time  the  Chinese  arrived, 
are  believed  not  to  be  the  aboriginals  of  the  district. 
What  I  actually  know  about  this  people  is  not  much. 
I  have  heard  a  good  deal,  but  it  must  not  be  under- 
stood that  I  publish  this  as  absolutely  the  final  word. 

140 


Una  Miao  at  Chao-foitg-fu. 
Five  men  nnd  two  wnmcn. 


A  group  of  colpovtcurs. 


THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

People  who  have  Hved  in  the  district  for  many 
years  do  not  agree,  so  that  for  a  mere  traveller 
the  task  of  getting  infallible  data  would  be  quite 
formidable. 

No  tribe  is  more  widely  known  than  the  Nou-su, 
with  their  innumerable  tribal  distinctions  and 
hereditary  peculiarities  so  perplexing  to  the  inquirer 
into  Far  Western  China  ethnology. 

The  Nou-su  are  a  very  fine,  tall  race,  with  com- 
paratively fair  complexions,  suggesting  a  mixture 
of  Mongolian  with  some  other  straight-featured 
people.  Of  their  origin,  however,  little  can  be 
vouched  for,  and  with  it  we  will  have  nothing  to  do 
here.  But  at  the  present  time  the  Nou-su  provide 
a  good  deal  of  interest  from  the  fact  that  their  power 
as  tyrannic  landlords  and  feudal  chiefs  is  fast  dying, 
and  it  may  be  that  in  a  couple  of  decades,  or  a  still 
shorter  time,  a  people  who,  by  obstinate  self-reliance 
and  great  dislike  to  the  Chinese,  have  remained  un- 
affected by  the  absorbing  spirit  of  the  arbitrary 
Chinaman,  will  have  passed  beyond  the  vale  of 
personality.  Even  now,  however,  they  own  and 
rule  enormous  tracts  of  country  (notably  that  part 
lying  on  the  right  bank  of  the  River  of  Golden  Sand) 
in  north-east  Yiin-nan.  Some  are  very  wealthy.  One 
man  may  own  vast  tracts  bigger  than  Yorkshire. 
In  this  tract  there  may  be  one  hundred  villages,  all 
paying  tribute  to  him  and  subject  to  the  vagaries  of 
his  vilest  despotism.  From  his  tyranny  his  struggling 
tenantry  have  no  redress.  So  long  as  the  I-pien 
(the  local  name  of  the  Nou-su)  greases  the  palm  of 
the  squeezing  Chinese  mandarin  in  whose  nominal 
control  the  district  extends,  he  may  run  riot  as  he 
pleases.  Social  law  and  order  is  unknown,  justice 
is  a  complete  contradiction  in  terms,  and  whilst  one 

141 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

is  in  the  midst  of  it,  it  is  difficult  to  realise  that  in 
China  to-day — the  China  which  all  the  world  believes 
to  be  awakening — there  exists  a  condition  of  things 
which  will  allow  a  man  to  torture,  to  plunder,  to 
murder,  and  to  indulge  to  the  utmost  degree  the 
whims  of  a  Neronic  and  devilish  temperament. 

Slave  trading  is  common.  If  a  tenant  cannot 
pay  his  tribute,  he  sells  himself  for  a  few  taels  and 
becomes  the  slave  of  his  former  landlord,  and  if  he 
would  save  his  head  treads  carefully. 

In  the  early  days,  when  one  clan  was  driven 
further  into  the  hills,  they  each  clinched  as  much 
land  as  they  could.  In  course  of  time,  by  petty 
quarrels,  civil  wars,  and  common  feuds,  the  Nou-su 
were  gradually  thinned  out.  The  Miao-tsi — the 
men  of  the  hills  and  the  serfs  of  the  landlords,  who 
four  thousand  years  ago  were  a  powerful  race  in 
their  own  kingdom — became  the  tenants  of  the 
Nou-su,  whose  rule  is  still  marked  by  the  grossest 
infamy  possible  to  be  practised  on  the  human  race. 
All  the  methods  of  torture  which  in  the  old  days 
were  associated  with  the  Chinese  are  still  in  vogue, 
in  many  cases  in  an  aggravated  form,  I  have 
personally  seen  the  tortures,  and  have  listened  to  the 
stories  of  the  victims,  but  it  would  not  bear  descrip- 
tion in  print. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  understood  that  to  be 
a  Nou-su  is  to  be  a  landlord.  By  no  means.  For  in 
the  gradual  process  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  when 
the  weaker  landlords  were  murdered  by  their  stronger 
compatriots  and  their  lands  seized,  only  a  small  per- 
centage of  the  tribe  in  this  area  have  been  able  to 
hold  sway.  However,  wherever  there  are  landlords 
in  this  part  of  the  country,  they  are  always  Nou-su 
or   Chinamen.     The    Miao — or,    at   least,    the    Hua 


142 


THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

Miao  own  no  lands,  and  are  body  and  soul  in  the 
tyrannic  clutch  of  the  tyrannic  I-pien.  Then,  again, 
in  the  Nou-su  tribe  there  are  various  hereditary 
distinctions  enabling  a  man  to  claim  caste  advantage. 
There  are  the  Black  Bones,  as  they  style  themselves, 
the  aristocrats  of  the  race,  and  the  White  Bones, 
the  lower  breeds,  who  obey  to  the  letter  their  wealthier 
brethren — or  anybody  who  has  authority  over  them. 

The  Nou-su,  who  are  a  totally  different  race  and  a 
much  better  class  than  the  Miao,  are  believed  to  have 
been  driven  from  the  Chao-t'ong  Plain,  preferring- 
migration  to  fighting,  and  many  trekked  across  the 
Yangtze  (locally  called  the  Kin-sha)  river  inta 
country  now  marked  on  good  maps  as  the  Man-tze 
country.  It  appears  that  the  following  are  the  twO' 
important  branches : — 

(i)    The  Black  (Na-su)    .  .   Farmers    and    land- 
owners, 
(ii)   The  White  (Tu-su)    . .  Generally  slaves. 

Other  minor  classes  are : — 

(i)  The  Lakes  (or  Red  Nou-su)  Mostly  black- 
smiths. 

(ii)  TheA-u-tsi  Mostly  felt- 
makers,  who  rightly  or  wrongly  claim, 
relationship  with   the   Chinese. 

(iii)  Another  class,  who  are  mostly  basket-makers.. 

The  two  great  divisions,  however,  are  the  White 
and  the  Black.  The  latter  class,  themselv^es  the 
owners  of  land,  claim  that  all  the  White  were 
originally  slaves,  and  that  those  who  are  now  free- 
have  escaped  at  some  previous  period  from  servitude. 
Men,  as  usual  among  such  tribes,  are  scarcely 
distinguishable    from    the    ordinary    Han    Ren.      It 

143 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

is  the  women,  with  their  pecuHar  head-dress  and 
picturesque  skirts,  who  maintain  the  distinguishing 
features  of  the  race.  For  the  most  part,  the  Nou-su 
are  not  idolaters  ;  no  idols  are  in  their  houses.  That 
portion  of  the  tribe  which  migrated  across  the 
Yangtze,  secure  among  the  mountains,  have  never 
ceased  to  harass  the  Chinese,  who  now  dwell  on  land 
which  they  themselves  once  tilled,  or  at  least 
inhabited  ;  but  they  have  been  driven  into  remoter 
districts,  and  are  only  found  away  from  the  highways 
■of  Chinese  travel.  The  race,  too,  is  dying  out — in 
this  area  at  all  events — and  the  Nou-su  themselves 
reckon  that  their  numbers  have  decreased  by  one- 
half  during  the  last  thirty  years.  This  is  one  of  the 
saddest  facts.  The  insanitation  of  their  dwellings, 
their  rough  diet,  and  frequent  riotings  in  wine, 
opium  and  other  evils,  are  quickly  playing  havoc  in 
their  ranks,  giving  the  strong  the  opportunity  of 
enriching  themselves  at  the  expense  of  the  weak, 
with  frequent  fighting  about  the  division  of  land. 

Europeans  who  can  speak  the  language  of  the 
Nou-su  are  numbered  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand. 

To  one  who  has  travelled  in  this  neighbourhood 
for  any  length  of  time,  it  must  be  apparent  that  the 
unique  method  generally  adopted  by  the  Nou-su, 
that  is,  the  landlord  class,  to  get  rich  quickly  is  to 
kill  off  their  next-door  neighbour.  The  lives  these 
men  live,  with  nothing  but  scandal  and  licentiousness 
to  pass  their  time,  are  grossly  and  horribly  wicked 
when  viewed  by  the  broadest-minded  Westerner. 
They  all  live  in  fear  of  their  lives,  and  are  each  afraid 
of  the  others,  all  entertaining  a  secret  hatred,  and  all 
ever  on  the  alert  to  devise  some  safe  scheme  to 
murder  the  owner  of  some  land  they  are  anxious  of 
annexing  to  their  own — and  in  the  doing  of  the  deed 

144 


THE   TRIBES    OF   NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

to  save  their  own  necks.  If  they  succeed,  they  are 
accounted  clever  men.  As  I  write,  I  hear  of  a  man, 
quite  a  youngster,  himself  an  exceedingly  wealthy 
man,  who  killed  his  brother  and  confiscated  his 
property  with  no  compunction  whatever.  When 
tackled  on  the  subject,  he  said  he  could  do  nothing 
else,  for  if  he  had  not  killed  his  brother  his  brother 
would  have  killed  him. 

Yet  there  is  no  sense  of  crime  as  we  of  the  West 
understand  it  all,  and  nothing  is  feared  from  the 
Chinese  law.  A  man  kills  a  slave,  tortures  him  to 
death,  and  when  the  Chinese  mandarin  is  appealed 
to,  if  he  is  at  all,  he  looks  wise  and  says,  '  I  quite 
understand  the  position,  I  see  your  point,  but  I  can 
do  nothing.  The  murdered  man  was  the  landlord's 
slave,'  and,  with  a  gentle  wave  of  his  three-inch 
finger-nail,  he  explains  how  a  man  may  kill  his 
slave,  his  wife,  or  his  son — and  the  law  can  do  nothing. 
That  is,  if  he  compensates  the  mandarin. 

A  Non-su  looked  upon  a  girl  one  day,  when  he 
was  out  collecting  tribute.  She  was  handsome,  and 
he  instructed  his  men  to  take  her.  She  refused. 
A  sum  of  one  hundred  ounces  of  silver  was  offered  to 
anyone  who  would  kidnap  her  and  carry  her  off  to 
his  harem.  Eventually  he  got  the  girl,  and  had  her 
father  tortured  and  then  put  to  death  because  he 
would  not  deliver  his  daughter  over  to  him.  Yet 
there  is  no  redress. 

Nou-su  women,  their  feet  unbound,  with  high 
foreheads  and  well-cut  features,  with  fiery  eyes  set 
in  not  unkindly  faces,  tall  and  healthy,  would  be 
considered  handsome  women  in  any  country  in 
Europe.  They  rarely  intermarry  with  other  tribes. 
A  good  deal  of  affection  certainly  exists  sometimes 
between  husband  and  wife  and  between  parents  and 

145 
11 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

children,  but  the  looseness  of  the  marriage  relation 
leads  to  unending  strife. 

Many  Europeans,  travellers  and  missionaries, 
have  been  murdered  in  the  country  inhabited  by 
the  independent  Lolo  people.  Although  I  have  not 
personally  been  through  any  of  that  country,  I  have 
been  on  the  very  outskirts  and  have  lived  for  a  long 
time  among  the  people  there.  I  found  them  a 
pleasant  hospitable  race,  fairly  easy  to  get  on  with. 
And  it  must  not  be  averred  that,  because  they 
consider  their  natural  enemy,  the  Chinaman,  the 
man  to  be  robbed  and  murdered,  and  because  they 
kill  off  their  fellow  -  landlords  in  order  the  more 
quickly  to  get  rich,  that  they  treat  all  strangers  alike. 
Among  the  Europeans  who  have  suffered  death  at 
their  hands,  it  is  probable  that  in  some  way  the 
cause  was  traceable  to  their  own  bearing  towards 
the  people — either  a  total  lack  of  knowledge  of  their 
language  or  an  attitude  which  caused  suspicion. 

Among  the  Nou-su,  strong  as  this  feudal  life 
still  is,  the  Chinese  are  fast  gaining  permanent 
influence.  Their  dissolute  and  drunken  and  inhuman 
daily  practices  are  tending  to  work  out  among  this 
people  their  own  destruction,  and  in  years  to  come 
in  this  neighbourhood  the  traveller  will  be  perplexed 
at  finding  here  and  there  a  fine  specimen  of  an  up- 
standing Chinaman,  with  clean-cut  face,  straight  of 
feature  and  straight  of  limb,  with  a  peculiar  Mongol 
look  about  him.  He  will  be  one  of  the  surviving 
specimens  of  a  race  of  people,  the  Nou-su,  whose 
forgotten  historical  records  would  do  much  to  clear 
up  the  doubt  attaching  to  Indo-China  and  Tibet- 
Burma  ethnology. 

The  first  Nou-su  chieftain  to  come  to  Chao-t'ong, 
a  man  who  was  renowned  as  a  tyrannical  brute, 

146 


THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

was  one  len  Tsang-fu,  who  frequently  gouged  out  the 
eyes  of  those  who  disobeyed  his  commands  ;  and 
his  descendants  are  said  to  have  inherited  a  good 
many  of  this  tyrant's  vices.  The  landlords  prey 
upon  their  weaker  brethren,  and  at  last,  with 
infinite  sagacity,  the  Chinese  Government  steps  in 
to  stop  the  quarrels,  confiscates  the  whole  of  the 
property,  and  thus  reduces  Nou-su  land  to  immediate 
control  of  Chinese  authorities. 

"  The  Nou-su  are,  of  course,  entirely  dependent 
upon  the  land  for  their  living.  They  till  the  soil 
and  rear  cattle,  and  the  greatest  calamity ]^that  can 
come  upon  any  family  is  that  their  land  shall  be 
taken  from  them.  To  be  landless  involves  degrada- 
tion as  well  as  poverty,  and  very  severe  hardship 
is  the  lot  of  men  who  have  been  deprived  of  this  means 
of  subsistence.  For  those  who  own  no  land,  but  who 
are  merely  tenants  of  the  Tu-muh,*  there  seems  to 
be  no  security  of  tenure  ;  but  still,  if  the  wishes  and 
demands  of  the  landlords  are  complied  with,  one 
family  may  till  the  same  farm  for  many  successive 
generations.  The  terms  on  which  land  is  held  are 
peculiar.  The  rental  agreed  upon  is  nominal. 
Large  tracts  of  country  are  rented  for  a  pig  or  a  sheep 
or  a  fowl,  with  a  little  corn  per  year.  Beside  this 
nominal  rent,  the  landlord  has  the  right  to  make 
levies  on  his  tenants  on  all  special  occasions,  such  as 
funerals,  weddings,  or  for  any  other  extraordinary 
expenses.  He  can  also  require  his  tenants  with  their 
cattle  to  render  services.  This  system  necessarily 
leads  to  much  oppression  and  injustice.  It  is  also 
said  that  if  a  family  is  hard  pressed  by  a  Tu-muh 
and  reduced  to  extreme  poverty,  they  will  make 
themselves  over  to  him  on  condition  that  a  portion 

*  Literally  "  Eyes  of  the  Earth  " — the  landlords. 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

of  his  land  be  given  them  to  cultivate.  Such  people 
are  called  caught  slaves,  as  distinguished  from 
hereditary,  and  the  eldest  children  become  the 
absolute  property  of  the  landlord  and  are  generally 
given  as  attendants  upon  his  wife  and  daughters. 

"  Every  farmer  owns  a  large  number  of  slaves, 
who  live  in  the  same  compound  as  himself.  These 
people  do  all  the  work  of  the  farm,  while  the  master 
employs  himself  as  his  fancy  leads  him.  Over  these 
unfortunate  people  the  owner  has  absolute  control. 
All  their  affairs  are  managed  by  him.  His  girl 
slaves  he  marries  off  to  other  men's  slave  boys,  and 
similarly  obtains  wives  for  his  male  slaves.  The 
lot  of  these  unfortunate  people  is  hard  beyond 
description.  Being  considered  but  little  more 
valuable  than  the  cattle  they  tend,  the  food  given  to 
them  is  often  inferior  to  the  corn  upon  which  the 
master's  horse  is  fed.  The  cruel  beatings  and 
torturings  they  have  been  subject  to  have  completely 
broken  their  spirit,  and  now  they  seem  unable  to 
exist  apart  from  their  masters.  Very  seldom  do  any 
of  them  try  to  escape,  for  no  one  will  give  them 
shelter,  and  the  punishment  awarded  a  recaptured 
slave  is  so  severe  as  to  intimidate  the  most  daring. 
These  poor  folk  are  born  in  slavery,  married  in 
slavery,  and  they  die  in  slavery.  It  is  not  uncommon 
to  meet  with  Chinese  slaves,  both  boys  and  girls,  in 
Nou-su  families.  These  have  either  been  kidnapped 
and  sold,  or  their  parents,  unable  to  nourish  them, 
have  bartered  them  in  exchange  for  food.  Their 
purchasers  marry  them  to  Tu-su,  and  their  lot  is 
thrown  in  with  the  slave  class.  One's  heart  is  wrung 
with  anguish  sometimes  as  he  thinks  of  what  cruelty 
and  wretchedness  exist  among  the  hills  of  this  be- 
nighted j^district.     Even    here,    however,    light    is 

148 


THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

beginning  to  shine,  for  some  adherents  of  the  Chris- 
tian rehgion  have  changed  their  slaves  into  tenants, 
thus  showing  the  way  to  the  ultimate  solution  of  this 
difficult  problem. 

"  The  life  in  a  Nou-su  household  is  not  very- 
complex.  The  cattle  are  driven  out  early  in  the 
morning,  as  soon  as  the  sun  has  risen.  They  remain 
out  until  the  breakfast  hour,  and  then  return  to  the 
stables  and  rest  during  the  heat  of  the  day,  going 
out  again  in  the  cool  hours.  The  food  of  the  house- 
hold is  prepared  by  the  slaves,  under  the  direction 
of  the  lady  of  the  house.  There  is  no  refined  cooking, 
for  the  Nou-su  despises  well-cooked  food,  and  com- 
plains that  it  never  satisfies  him.  He  has  a  couplet 
which  runs  :  '  If  you  eat  raw  food,  you  become  a 
warrior  ;  if  you  eat  it  cooked,  you  suffei  hunger.' 
No  chairs  or  tables  are  found  in  a  genuine  Nou-su 
house.  The  food  is  served  up  in  a  large  bowl  placed 
on  the  floor.  The  family  sit  around,  and  each  one 
helps  himself  with  a  large  wooden  spoon.  At  the 
present  time  the  refinements  of  Chinese  civilisation 
have  been  adopted  by  a  large  number  of  Nou-su, 
and  the  homes  of  the  wealthier  people  are  as  well 
furnished  as  those  of  the  middle-class  Chinese  of  the 
district.  The  women  of  the  households  also  spend 
much  time  making  their  own  and  their  children's 
clothes.  The  men  have  adopted  Chinese  dress,  but 
the  women,  in  most  cases,  retain  their  tribal  costume 
with  its  large  turban-hke  head-dress,  its  plaited  skirt 
and  intricately  embroidered  coat.  All  this  is  made 
by  hand,  and  the  choicest  years  of  maidenhood  are 
occupied  in  preparing  the  clothes  for  the  wedding- 
day. 

"  The  Nou-su,  it  would  seem,  used  not  to  beg  a 
wife,  but  rather  obtained  her  by  main  force.     At  the 

149 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

present  day,  while  the  milder  method  generally  pre- 
vails, there  are  still  survivals  of  the  ancient  custom. 
The  betrothal  truly  takes  place  very  early,  even  in 
infancy,  and  at  the  ceremony  a  fowl  is  killed,  and 
each  contracting  party  takes  a  rib  ;  but  as  the  young 
folk  grow  to  marriageable  age,  the  final  negotiations 
have  to  be  made.  These  are  purposely  prolonged 
until  the  bridegroom,  growing  angry,  gathers  his 
friends  and  makes  an  attack  on  the  maiden's  home. 
Arming  themselves  with  cudgels,  they  approach 
secretly,  and  protecting  their  heads  and  shoulders 
with  their  felt  cloaks,  they  rush  towards  the  house. 
Strenuous  efforts  are  made  by  the  occupants  to  pre- 
vent their  entering,  and  severe  blows  are  exchanged. 
When  the  attacking  party  has  succeeded  in  gaining  an 
entrance,  peace  is  proclaimed,  and  wine  and  huge 
chunks  of  flesh  are  provided  for  their  entertainment. 
"  Occasionally  during  these  fights  the  maiden's 
home  is  quite  dismantled.  The  negotiations  being 
ended,  preparations  are  made  to  escort  the  bride  to 
her  future  home.  Heavily  veiled,  she  is  supported  on 
horseback  by  her  brothers,  while  her  near  relatives, 
all  fully  armed,  attend  her.  On  arriving  at  the 
house,  a  scuffle  ensues.  The  veil  is  snatched  from  the 
bride's  face  by  her  relatives,  who  do  their  utmost  to 
throw  it  on  to  the  roof,  thus  signifying  that  she  will 
rule  over  the  occupants  when  she  enters.  The  bride- 
groom's people  on  the  contrary  try  to  trample  it  upon 
the  doorstep,  as  an  indication  of  the  rigour  with  which 
the  newcomer  will  be  subjected  to  the  ruling  of  the 
head  of  the  house.  Much  blood  is  shed,  and  people 
are  often  seriously  injured  in  these  skirmishes.  The 
new  bride  remains  for  three  days  in  a  temporary 
shelter  before  she  is  admitted  to  the  home.  A  girl 
having  once  left  her  parent's  home  to  become  a  wife, 

150 


THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

waits  many  years  before  she  pays  a  return  visit. 
Anciently  the  minimum  time  was  three  years,  but 
some  allow  ten  or  more  years  to  elapse  before  the 
first  visit  home  is  paid.  Two  or  three  years  are  then 
often  spent  with  the  parents.  Many  friends  and  re- 
latives attend  any  visitor,  for  with  the  Nou-su  a 
large  following  is  considered  a  sign  of  dignity  and 
importance.  When  a  child  is  born  a  tree  is  planted, 
with  the  hope  that  as  the  tree  grows  so  also  will  the 
child  develop. 

"  The  fear  of  disease  lies  heavily  upon  the  Nou-su 
people,  and  their  disregard  of  the  most  elementary 
sanitary  laws  makes  them  very  liable  to  attacks  of 
sickness.  They  understand  almost  nothing  about 
medicine,  and  consequently  resort  to  superstitious 
practices  in  order  to  ward  off  the  evil  influences. 
When  it  is  known  that  disease  has  visited  a  neigh- 
bour's house,  a  pole,  seven  feet  long,  is  erected  in  a 
conspicuous  place  in  a  thicket  some  distance  from  the 
house  to  be  guarded.  On  the  pole  an  old  plough- 
share is  fixed,  and  it  is  supposed  that  when  the  spirit 
who  controls  the  disease  sees  the  ploughshare  he  will 
retire  to  a  distance  of  three  homesteads. 

"A  fever  called  No-ma-dzi  works  great  havoc  among 
the  Nou-su  every  year,  and  the  people  are  very  much 
afraid  of  it.  No  person  will  stay  by  the  sick-bed  to 
nurse  the  unfortunate  victim.  Instead,  food  and 
water  are  placed  by  his  bedside  and,  covered  with 
his  quilt,  he  is  left  at  the  mercy  of  the  disease. 
Since  as  the  fever  progresses  the  patient  will  perspire, 
heavy  stones  are  placed  on  the  quilt,  that  it  may  not 
be  thrown  off,  and  the  sick  person  take  cold.  Many 
an  unfortunate  sufferer  has  through  this  strange 
practice  died  from  suffocation.  After  a  time  the 
relatives  will  return  to  see  what  course  the  disease 


151 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

has  taken.  This  fever  seems  to  yield  to  quinine,  for 
Mr.  John  Li  has  seen  several  persons  recover  to 
whom  he  had  administered  this  drug.  When  a  man 
dies,  his  relatives,  as  soon  as  they  receive  the  news, 
hold  in  their  several  homes  a  feast  of  mourning  called 
by  them  the  Za.  A  pig  or  sheep  is  sacrificed  at  the 
doorway,  and  it  is  supposed  that  intercourse  is  thus 
maintained  between  the  living  persons  and  the  late 
departed  spirit.  The  near  kindred,  on  hearing 
of  the  death  of  a  relative,  take  a  fowl  and  strangle 
it ;  the  shedding  of  its  blood  is  not  permissible. 
This  fowl  is  cleaned  and  skewered,  and  the  mourner 
then  proceeds  to  the  house  where  the  deceased 
person  is  lying,  and  sticks  this  fowl  at  the  head  of 
the  corpse  as  an  offering.  The  more  distant  relatives 
do  not  perform  this  rite,  but  each  leads  a  sheep  to 
the  house  of  mourning,  and  the  son  of  the  deceased 
man  strikes  each  animal  three  times  with  a  white 
wand,  while  the  Peh-mo  (priest  or  magician)  stands  by, 
and  announcing  the  sacrifice  by  calling  '  so  and  so,' 
giving  of  course  the  name,  presents  the  soft  woolly 
offering. 

"  Formerly  the  Nou-su  burned  their  dead.  Said 
a  Nou-su  youth  to  me  years  ago,  '  The  thought  of  our 
friends'  bodies  either  turning  to  corruption  or  being 
eaten  by  wild  beasts  is  distasteful  to  us,  and  there- 
fore we  burn  our  dead.'  The  corpse  is  burnt  with 
wood,  and  during  the  cremation  the  mourners 
arrange  themselves  around  the  fire  and  chant  and 
dance.  The  ashes  are  buried,  and  the  ground 
levelled.  This  custom  is  still  adhered  to  among  the 
Nou-su  of  the  independent  Lolo  territory  or  more 
correctly  Papu  country  of  Western  Szech'wan.  The 
tribesmen  who  dwell  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Wei- 
ning   and   Chao-t'ong  have   adopted  burial   as   the 

152 


Group  of  Hua  Miao  Christians  at  Sh'ik-men-K'an. 


Uiui  Midu  boys  on  holiday  in   United  Methodist  Mission  House 
in  North-East  Yun-nan. 


v^a'-  fc>  ><"  A 


^ 

e 


THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

means  of  disposing  of  their  dead,  but  adding  some 
customs  peculiar  to  themselves. 

"  On  the  day  of  the  funeral  the  horse  which  the 
deceased  man  was  in  the  habit  of  riding  is  brought 
to  the  door  and  saddled  by  the  Pehmo.  The  com- 
mand is  then  given  to  lead  the  horse  to  the  grave. 
All  the  mourners  follow,  and  marching  or  dancing  in 
intertwining  circles,  cross  and  recross  the  path  of 
the  led  horse  until  the  poor  creature,  grown  frantic 
with  fear,  rushes  and  kicks  in  wild  endeavour  to 
escape  from  the  confusion.  The  whole  company 
then  raise  a  great  shout  and  call,  '  The  soul  has  come 
to  ride  the  horse,  the  soul  has  come  to  ride  the  horse.' 
A  contest  then  follows  among  the  women  of  the 
deceased  man's  household  for  the  possession  of  this 
horse,  which  is  henceforth  regarded  as  of  extreme 
value.  It  is  difficult  to  discover  much  about  the 
religion  of  the  Nou-su,  because  so  many  of  their 
ancient  customs  have  fallen  into  disuse  during  the 
intercourse  of  the  people  with  the  Chinese.  At  the 
ingathering  of  the  buckwheat,  when  the  crop  is 
stacked  on  the  threshing  floor,  and  the  work  of  thresh- 
ing is  about  to  begin,  the  simple  formula,  '  Thank 
you,  Ilsomo,'  is  used.  Ilsomo  seems  to  be  a  spirit 
who  has  control  over  the  crops  ;  whether  good  or 
evil,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine.  Ilsomo  is  not  God, 
for  at  present,  when  the  Nou-su  wish  to  speak  of 
God,  they  use  the  word  See,  which  means  Master. 

"  In  the  independent  territory  of  the  Nou-su,  to 
the  west  of  Szech'wan,  the  term  used  for  God  is 
Eh-nia,  and  a  Nou-su  who  has  much  intercourse  with 
the  independent  people  contends  that  there  are  three 
names  indicative  of  God,  and  each  representing 
different  functions  if  not  persons  of  the  Godhead. 
These    names   are  :    Eh-nia,   Keh-neh,  Um-p'a-ma. 

153 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

The  Noii-su  believe  in  ancestor  worship,  and  perhaps 
the  most  interesting  feature  of  their  reUgion  is  the 
pecuhar  form  this  worship  takes.  Instead  of  an 
ancestral  tablet  such  as  the  Chinese  use,  the  Nou- 
su  worship  a  small  basket  (lolo)  about  as  large  as  a 
duck's  egg  and  made  of  split  bamboo.  This  '  lolo  ' 
contains  small  bamboo  tubes  an  inch  or  two  long, 
and  as  thick  as  an  ordinary  Chinese  pen  handle.  In 
these  tubes  are  fastened  a  piece  of  grass  and  a  piece 
of  sheep's  wool.  A  man  and  his  wife  would  be  re- 
presented by  two  tubes,  and  if  he  had  two  wives,  an 
extra  tube  would  be  placed  in  the  'lolo.'  At  the 
ceremony  of  consecration  the  Pehmo  attends,  and  a 
slave  is  set  apart  for  the  purpose  of  attending  to 
all  the  rites  connected  with  the  worship  of  the 
deceased  person.  The  '  lolo  '  is  sometimes  placed  in 
the  house,'  but  more  often  on  a  tree  in  the  neighbour- 
hood or  it  may  be  hidden  in  a  rock.  For  persons 
who  are  short-lived,  the  ancestral  '  lolo  '  is  placed  in 
a  crevice  in  the  wall  of  some  forsaken  and  ruined 
building.  Every  three  years  the  '  lolo  '  is  changed, 
and  the  old  one  burnt.  The  term  '  lolo,'  by  which 
the  Nou-su  are  generally  known,  is  a  contemptuous 
nickname  given  them  by  the  Chinese  in  reference  to 
this  peculiar  method  of  venerating  their  ancestors. 

"  Hill  worship  is  another  important  feature  of  Nou- 
su  religious  life.  Most  important  houses  are  built 
at  the  foot  of  a  hill  and  sacrifice  is  regularly  offered 
on  the  hill-side  in  the  fourth  month  of  each  year. 
The  Pehmo  determines  which  is  the  most  propitious 
day,  and  the  Tumuh  and  his  people  proceed  to  the 
appointed  spot.  A  limestone  rock  with  an  old  tree 
trunk  near  is  chosen  as  an  altar,  and  a  sheep  and  pig 
are  brought  forward  by  the  Tumuh.  The  Pehmo, 
having  adjusted  his  clothes,  sits  cross-legged  before 

154 


THE    TRIBES    OF    NORTH-EAST    YUN-NAN. 

"the  altar,  and  begins  intoning  his  incantations  in  a 
low  muttering  voice.  The  sacrifice  is  then  slain, 
and  the  blood  poured  beneath  the  altar,  and  a  hand- 
ful of  rice  and  a  lump  of  salt  are  placed  beneath  the 
stone.  Some  person  then  gathers  a  bundle  of  green 
grass,  and  the  Pehmo,  having  finished  intoning,  the 
altar  is  covered,  and  all  return  to  the  house.  The 
Pehmo  then  twists  the  grass  into  a  length  of  rope, 
which  he  hangs  over  the  doorway  of  the  house. 
Out  of  a  piece  of  willow  a  small  arrow  is  made,  and 
a  bow  similar  in  size  is  cut  out  of  a  peach  tree. 
These  are  placed  on  the  doorposts.  On  a  piece  of 
soft  white  wood  a  figure  of  a  man  is  roughly  carved, 
and  this,  with  two  sticks  of  any  soft  wood  placed 
cross-wise,  is  fastened  to  the  rope  hanging  over  the 
doorway,  on  each  side  of  which  two  small  sticks  are 
placed.  The  Pehmo  then  proceeds  with  his  incan- 
tation, muttering  :  '  From  now,  henceforth  and  for 
ever  will  the  evil  spirits  keep  away  from  this  house.' 
"  Most  Nou-su  at  the  present  time  observe  the 
New  Year  festival  on  the  same  date  and  with  the 
same  customs  as  the  Chinese.  Formerly  this  was 
not  so,  and  even  now  in  the  remoter  district  New 
Year's  day  is  observed  on  the  first  day  of  the  tenth 
month  of  the  Chinese  year.  A  pig  and  sheep  are 
killed  and  cleaned,  and  hung  in  the  house  for  three 
days.  They  are  then  taken  down,  cut  up  and 
cooked.  The  family  sit  on  buckwheat  straw  in  the 
middle  of  the  chief  room  of  the  house.  The  head  of 
the  house  invites  the  others  to  drink  wine,  and  the 
feasting  begins.  Presently  one  will  start  singing, 
and  cdl  join  in  this  song  :  '  How  firm  is  this  house 
of  mine.  Throughout  the  year  its  hearth  fire  has 
not  ceased  to  burn.  My  food  corn  is  abundant,  I 
have  silver  and  also  cash.  My  cattle  have  increased 

155 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

to  herds,  My  horses  and  mules  have  all  white  fore- 
heads K'o  K'o  Ha  Ha  Ha  Ha  K'o  K'o,  My  sons  are 
filial.  My  wife  is  virtuous,  In  the  midst  of  flesh  and 
wine  we  sleep,  Our  happiness  reaches  unto  heaven. 
Truly  glorious  is  this  glad  New  Year.'  A  scene  of 
wild  indulgence  then  frequently  follows. 

"  The  Nou-su  possess  a  written  language.  Their 
books  were  originally  made  of  sheepskin,  but  paper 
is  now  used.  The  art  of  printing  was  unknown,  and 
many  books  are  said  to  have  been  lost.  The  books 
are  illustrated,  but  the  drawings  are  extremely 
crude."* 


*  A  good  deal  of  information  in  this  chapter  was  obtained 
from  an  article  by  the  Rev.  C.  E.  Hicks,  published  in  the  Chinese 
Recorder  for  March,  1910.  The  portion  quoted  is  taken  bodily 
from  this  excellent  article. 


156 


FIFTH    JOURNEY. 
CHAO-T'ONG-FU    TO    TONG-CH'UAN-FU. 
CHAPTER    XL 

Revolting  sights  compensated  for  by  scenery.  Most  eventful 
day  in  the  trip.  Buying  a  pony,  and  the  reason  for  its 
purchase.  Author's  pony  kicks  him  and  breaks  his  arm. 
Chastising  the  animal,  and  narrow  escape  from  death.  Rider 
and  pony  a  sorry  sight.  An  uneasy  night.  Reappearance 
of  malaria.  Author  nearly  forced  to  give  in.  Heavy  rain 
on  a  difficult  road.  At  Ta-shui-tsing.  Chasing  frightened 
pony  in  the  dead  of  night.  Bad  accommodation.  Lepers 
and  leprosy.  Mining.  At  Kiang-ti.  Two  mandarins, 
and  an  amusing  episode.  Laying  foundation  of  a  long 
illness.  The  Kiang-ti  Suspension  Bridge.  Hard  climbing. 
Tiffin  in  the  mountains.  Sudden  ascents  and  descents. 
Description  of  the  country.  Tame  birds  and  what  they  do. 
A  non-enterprising  community.  Pleasant  travelling  without 
perils.     Majesty  of  the  mountains  of   Yiin-nan. 

Whilst  in  this  district,  as  will  have  been  seen,  one 
has  to  steel  himself  to  face  some  of  the  most  revolting 
sights  it  is  possible  to  imagine,  he  is  rewarded  by 
the  grandeur  of  the  scenic  pictures  which  mark  the 
downward  journey  to  Tong-ch'uan-fu. 

The  stages  to  Tong-ch'uan-fu  were  as  follows  : — 

1st  day  . .  T'ao-iien 

2nd  day  . .  Ta-shui-tsing 

3rd  day  . .  Kiang-ti 

4th  day  . .  Yi-che-shin 

5  th  day  . .  Hong-shih-ai 

6th  day  . .  Tong-ch'uan-fu 

The  Chao-t'ong  plateau,  magnificently  level,  runs 
out     past    the    picturesquely  -  situated    tower    of 


Length  of 
stage. 

Height  above 
sea  level. 

. .     70  h. 

.  •     30  „ 

.  .    9,300  ft. 

. .     40  „ 

..    4400,, 

..     70  „ 

.  .    6,300  „ 

• .     90  „ 

..    6,800,, 

. .     60  „ 

..    7.250,, 

^57 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

Wang-hai-leo,  from  which  one  overlooks  a  stretch  of 
water.  A  memorial  arch,  erected  by  the  Li  family 
of  Chao-t'ong-fu,  graces  the  main  road  farther  on,  and 
is  probably  one  of  the  best  of  its  kind  in  Yiin-nan, 
comparing  favourably  with  the  best  to  be  found  in 
Szech'wan,  where  monumental  architecture  abounds. 
Perhaps  the  only  building  of  interest  in  Chao-t'ong 
is  the  ancestral  hall  of  the  wealthy  family  mentioned 
above,  the  carving  of  which  is  magnificent. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  day  we  camped  at  the 
Mohammedan  village  of  T'ao-iien,  literally  "  Peach 
Garden,"  but  the  peach  trees  once  might  have  been, 
though  now  certainly  they  are  not. 

It  was  cold  when  we  left,  38°  F.,  hard  frost.  All 
the  world  seemed  buttoned  up  and  great-coated  ; 
the  trees  seemed  wiry  and  cheerless  ;  the  legs  of  the 
pack-horses  seemed  brittle,  and  I  felt  so.  Breath 
issued  visibly  from  the  mouth  as  I  trudged  along. 
My  boy  and  I  nearly  came  to  blows  in  the  early 
morning.  I  wanted  to  lie  on  ;  he  did  not.  If  he 
could  not  entertain  himself  for  half  an  hour  with 
his  own  thoughts,  I,  who  could,  thought  it  no  fault 
of  mine.  I  was  a  reasoning  being,  a  rational  creature, 
and  thought  it  a  fine  way  of  spending  a  sensible^ 
impartial  half-hour.  But  I  had  to  get  up,  and  then 
came  the  benumbed  fingers,  a  quivering  body,  a 
frozen  towel,  and  a  floor  upon  which  the  mud  was 
frozen  stiff.  Little  did  he  know  that  he  was  pulling 
me  out  to  the  most  eventful  and  unfortunate  day  of 
my  trip. 

At  Chao-t'ong  I  had  bought  a  pony  in  case  of 
emergency — one  of  those  sturdy  little  brutes  that 
never  grow  tired,  cost  httle  to  keep,  and  are  unex- 
celled for  the  amount  of  work  they  can  get  through 
every-day  in  the  week.      Its   colour  was   black,  a 

158 


CHAO-T'ONG-FU    TO    TONG-CH'UAN-FU. 

smooth,  glossy  black — the  proverbial  dark  horse — 
and  when  dressed  in  its  English  saddle  and  bridle 
looked  even  smart  enough  for  the  use  of  the  dis- 
tinguished traveller,  who  smiled  the  smile  of  pleasant 
ownership  as  it  was  led  on  in  front  all  day  long, 
seeming  to  return  a  satanic  grin  for  my  foolishness 
at  not  riding  it.* 

The  first  I  saw  of  it  was  when  it  was  standing 
full  on  its  hind  legs  pinning  a  man  between  the 
railings  and  a  wall  in  a  corner  of  the  mission  premises. 
It  looked  well.     Truly,  it  was  a  blood  beast  ! 

On  the  second  day  out,  whilst  walking  merrily 
along  in  the  early  morning,  the  little  brute  lifted 
its  heels,  lodged  them  most  precisely  on  to  my 
right  forearm  with  considerable  force — more  forceful 
than  affectionate — sending  the  stick  which  I  carried 
thirty  feet  from  me  up  the  chffs.  The  limb  ached, 
and  I  felt  sick.  My  boy — he  had  been  a  doctor's 
boy  on  one  of  the  gunboats  at  Chung-king — thought 
it  was  bruised.  I  acquiesced,  and  sank  fainting  to 
a  stone.  On  the  strength  of  my  boy's  diagnosis 
we  rubbed  it,  and  found  that  it  hurt  still  more. 
Then  diving  into  a  cottage,  I  brought  out  a  piece 
of  wood,  three  inches  wide  and  twenty  inches 
long,  placed  my  arm  on  it,  bade  my  boy  take  off 
one  of  my  puttees  from  one  of  my  legs,  used  it  as 
a  bandage,  and  trudged  on  again. 

Not  realising  that  my  arm  was  broken,  in  the 
evening  I  determined  to  chastise  the  animal  in  a 

*  The  incredulous  of  my  readers  may  question,  and  rightly  so, 
"  Then  where  did  he  get  his  saddle  ?  "  So  I  must  explain  that 
I  met  just  out  of  Sui-fu  a  Danish  gentleman  (also  a  traveller)  who 
wished  to  sell  a  pony  and  its  trappings.  As  I  had  the  arrange- 
ment with  my  boy  that  I  would  provide  him  with  a  conveyance, 
and  did  not  like  the  idea  of  seeing  him  continually  in  a  chair 
and  his  wealthy  master  trotting  along  on  foot,  I  bought  it  for  my 
boy's  use.     He  used  the  saddle  until  we  reached  Chao-t'ong. 


159 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

manner  becoming  to  my  disgust.  Mounting  at  the 
foot  of  a  long  hill,  I  laid  on  the  stick  as  hard  as  I 
could,  and  found  that  my  pony  had  a  remarkable 
turn  of  speed.  At  the  brow  of  the  hill  was  a  twenty- 
yard  dip,  at  the  base  of  which  was  a  pond. 

Do\vn,  down,  down  we  went,  and,  despite  my  full 
strength  (with  the  left  arm)  at  his  mouth,  the  pony 
plunged  in  with  a  dull  splash,  only  to  find  that  his 
feet  gave  way  under  him  in  a  clay  bottom.  He 
could  not  free  himself  to  swim.  Farther  and  farther 
we  sank  together,  every  second  deeper  into  the  mire, 
when  just  at  the  moment  I  felt  the  mud  clinging 
about  my  waist,  and  I  had  visions  of  a  horrible 
death  away  from  all  who  knew  me,  I  plunged 
madly  to  reach  the  side. 

With  one  arm  useless,  it  is  still  to  me  the  one  great 
wonder  of  my  life  how  I  escaped.  Nothing  short  of 
miraculous ;  one  of  the  times  when  one  feels  a 
special  protection  of  Providence  surrounding  him. 

Pulling  the  beast's  head,  after  I  had  given  myself 
a  momentary  shake,  I  succeeded  in  making  him 
give  a  mighty  lurch — then  another — then  another, 
and  in  a  few  seconds,  after  terrible  strugghng,  he 
reached  the  bank.  We  made  a  sorry  spectacle  as 
we  walked  shamefacedly  back  to  the  inn,  under  the 
gaze  of  half  a  dozen  grinning  rustics,  where  my  man 
was  preparing  the  evening  meal. 

In  the  evening,  on  the  advice  of  my  general  confi- 
dential companion,  I  submitted  to  a  poultice  being 
appHed  to  my  arm.  It  was  bruised,  so  we  put  on  the 
old-fashioned,  hard-to-be-beaten  poultice  of  bread. 
Whilst  it  was  hot  it  was  comfortable  ;  when  it  was 
cold,  I  unrolled  the  bandage,  threw  the  poultice  to 
the  floor,  and  in  two  minutes  saw  glistening  in  the 
moonlight  the  eyes  of  the  rats  which  ate  it. 

160 


''  Coal  Mine. 

Coal  is  found  plentifully  in  many  parts  of  Yiin-nan  province.  Often 
one  can  scrape  it  from  the  surface ;  in  other  places  it  is  dug  from 
underground.     The  picture  is  a  photograph  of    an  underground  working. 


:fs:s£ 


';^^^^P^: 


^^•'h 


Kioiigti  Suspension  Bridge. 
The  drop  leading  down  to  the  bridge  is  over  5,000  feet. 


1 
1 

MiV^-?'  <h^*.i.^<^<ii  - 

W^%i 

rw     A*      *  "^i   :i-    V  *  ijwLft  ;^^  ■fc-.^-A    ^ 

Mountain  scenery  in  North-East  Ynn-nan. 

This  spot  lies  to  the  south-east  of  Chao-t'ong-fu,  and  is  eminently  typical 
of  the  nature  of  the  country.  The  photo  was  taken  from  10,000  feet  about 
sea  level. 


CHAO-T'ONG-FU    TO    TONG-CH'UAN-FU. 

Then  I  bade  sweet  Morpheus  take  me ;  but,  although 
the  pain  prevented  me  from  sleeping,  I  remember 
fainting.  How  long  I  lay  I  know  not.  Shuddering 
in  every  limb  with  pain  and  chilly  fear,  I  at  length 
awoke  from  a  long  swoon.  Something  had  happened, 
but  what  ?  There  was  still  the  paper  window,  the 
same  greasy  saucer  of  thick  oil  and  light  being  given 
by  the  same  rush,  the  same  rickety  table,  the  same 
chair  on  which  we  had  made  the  poultice — but  what 
had  happened  ?  I  rubbed  my  aching  eyes  and  lifted 
myself  in  a  half-sitting  posture  —  a  dream  had 
dazzled  me  and  scared  my  senses.  And  then  I  knew 
that  it  was  malaria  coming  on  again,  and  that  I  was 
once  more  her  luckless  victim. 

Malignant  malaria,  mistress  of  men  who  court  thee 
under  tropic  skies,  and  who,  like  me,  are  turned 
from  thee  bodily  shattered  and  whimpering  like  a 
child,  how  much,  how  very  much  hast  thou  laid  up 
for  thyself  in  Hades  ! 

Thank  Heaven,  I  had  superabundant  energy  and 
vitahty,  and  despite  contorted  and  distorted  things 
dancing  haphazard  through  my  fevered  brain,  I 
determined  not  to  go  under,  not  to  give  in.  My 
mind  was  a  terrible  tangle  of  combinations  never- 
theless— intricate,  incongruous,  inconsequent,  mon- 
strous ;  but  still  I  plodded  on.  For  the  next  four 
days,  with  my  arm  lying  limp  and  lifeless  at  my  side, 
and  with  recurring  attacks  of  malaria,  I  walked  on 
against  the  greatest  odds,  and  it  was  not  till  I  had 
reached  Tong-ch'uan-fu  that  I  learnt  that  the  Hmb 
was  fractured.  Men  may  have  seen  more  in  four 
days  and  done  more  and  risked  more,  but  I  think 
few  travellers  have  been  called  upon  to  suffer  more 
agony  than  befell  the  lot  of  the  man  who  was  crossing 
China  on  foot. 

i6i 
12 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

From  T'ao-iien  there  is  a  stiff  ascent,  followed  by  a 
climb  up  steep  stone  steps  and  muddy  mountain  banks 
through  black  and  barren  country.  The  morning 
had  been  cold  and  frosty,  but  rain  came  on  later,  a 
thick,  heavy  deluge,  which  swished  and  swashed 
everything  from  its  path  as  one  toiled  painfully  up 
those  slippery  paths,  made  almost  unnegotiable. 
But  my  imagination  and  my  hope  helped  me  to  make 
my  own  sunshine.  There  is  something,  I  think,  not 
disagreeable  in  issuing  forth  during  a  good  honest 
summer  rain  at  home  with  a  Burberry  well  buttoned 
and  an  umbrella  over  one's  head ;  here  in  Yiin-nan  a 
coat  made  it  too  uncomfortable  to  walk,  and  the 
terrific  wind  would  have  blown  an  umbrella  from 
one's  grasp  in  a  twinkhng.  If  we  are  in  the  home 
humour,  in  the  summer,  we  do  not  mind  how  drench- 
ing the  rain  is,  and  we  may  even  take  delight  in 
getting  our  own  legs  splashed  as  we  glance  at  the 
"  very  touching  stockings  "  and  the  "  very  gentle 
and  sensitive  legs  "  of  other  weaker  ones  in  the  same 
plight.  But  here  was  I  in  a  gale  on  the  bleakest 
tableland  one  can  find  in  this  part  of  Yiin-nan,  and 
a  sorry  sight  truly  did  I  make  as  I  trudged  "  two 
steps  forward,  one  step  back  "  in  my  bare  feet, 
covered  only  with  rough  straw  sandals,  with  trousers 
upturned  above  the  knee,  with  teeth  chattering  in 
malarial  shivers,  endeavouring  between-times  to 
think  of  the  pouring  deluge  as  a  benignant  enemy 
fertilising  fields,  purifying  the  streets  of  the  horrid 
little  villages  in  which  we  spent  our  nights  from 
contagion,  refreshing  the  air ! 

Shall  I  ever  forget  the  day  ? 

Just  before  sundown,  drenched  to  the  skin  and 
suffering  horribly  from  the  blues,  we  reached  one 
single  hut,  which  I  could  justly  look  upon  as  a  sort 

162 


CHAO-T'ONG-FU    TO    TONG-CH'UAN-FU. 

of  evening  companion  ;  for  here  was  a  fire — albeit,  a 
green  wood  fire — which  looked  gladly  in  my  face,talked 
to  me,  and  put  life  and  comfort  and  warmth  into  me 
for  the  ten  li  yet  remaining  of  the  day's  hard  journey. 
And  at  night,  about  8.30  p.m.,  we  at  last  reached 
the  top  of  the  hill,  actually  the  summit  of  a  mountain 
pass,  at  the  dirty  little  village  of  Ta-shui-tsing.  Not 
for  long,  however,  could  I  rest  ;  for  I  heard  yells 
and  screams  and  laughs.  That  pony  again  !  Every 
one  of  my  men  were  afraid  of  it,  for  at  the  slightest 
invitation  it  pawed  with  its  front  feet  and  landed 
man  after  man  into  the  gutter,  and  if  that  failed  it 
stood  upright  and  cuddled  them  around  the  neck. 
Now  I  found  it  had  run — saddle,  bridle  and  all — and 
none  volunteered  to  chase.  So  at  9.30,  weary  and 
bearing  the  burden  of  a  terrible  day,  which  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  long  illness  to  be  recorded  later,  I 
found  it  my  unpleasant  duty  to  patrol  the  hill  from 
top  to  bottom,  lighting  my  slippery  way  with  a 
Chinese  lantern,  chasing  the  pony  silhouetted  on  the 
skyline.  Ta-shui-tsing  is  a  dreary  spot  with  no  inn 
accommodation  at  all,*  a  place  depopulated  and  laid 
waste,  gloomy  and  melancholy.  I  managed,  how- 
ever, after  promising  a  big  fee,  to  get  into  a  small 
mud-house,  where  the  people  were  not  unkindly 
disposed.  I  ate  my  food,  slept  as  much  as  I 
could  in  the  few  hours  before  the  appearing  of  the 
earliest  dawn  on  the  bench  allotted  to  me,  feeling 
thankful  that  to  me  had  been  allowed  even  this 
scanty  lodging.  But  I  could  not  conscientiously 
recommend  the  place  to  future  travellers — a  dirty 
little  village  with  its  dirty  people  and  its  dirty 
atmosphere.  At  the  top  of  the  pass  the  wind  nearly 
removed  my  ears  as  I    took  a  final    glance   at  the 

*  A  new  inn  has  been  built  since. — E.  J.  D. 
163 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

mountain  refuge.  Mountains  here  run  south-west 
and  north-east,  and  are  grand  to  look  upon. 

The  poorest  people  were  lepers,  the  beggars  were 
all  dead  long  ago.  In  Yiin-nan  province  there  are 
thousands  of  lepers,  a  disease  which  the  Chinese,  not 
without  reason,  dread  terribly,  for  no  known  remedy 
exists.  Burning  the  patient  ahve,  which  used  often 
to  be  resorted  to,  is  even  now  looked  upon  as  the 
only  true  remedy.  Cases  have  been  known  where 
the  patient,  having  been  stupefied  with  opium,  has 
been  locked  in  a  house,  which  has  then  been  set  on 
fire,  and  its  inmate  cremated  on  the  spot. 

Mining  used  to  be  carried  on  here,  so  they  told 
me  ;  but  I  was  not  long  in  concluding  that,  what- 
ever was  the  product,  it  has  not  materially  affected 
the  world's  output,  nor  had  it  greatly  enriched  the 
labourers  in  the  field.  When  I  got  into  civilisation 
I  found  that  coal  of  a  sulphurous  nature  was  the 
booty  of  ancient  days.  There  may  be  coal  yet,  as 
is  most  probable,  but  the  natives  seemed  far  too 
apathetic  and  weary  of  life  to  care  whether  it  is 
there  or  not. 

Passing  Ta-shui-tsing,  the  descent  narrows  to  a 
splendid  view  of  dark  mountain  and  green  and 
beautiful  valley.  We  were  now  travelling  away 
from  several  ranges  of  lofty  mountains,  whose  peaks 
appeared  vividly  above  the  drooping  rain-filled 
clouds,  onwards  to  a  range  immediately  opposite, 
up  whose  slopes  we  toiled  all  day,  passing  en  route 
only  one  uninhabited  hamlet,  to  which  the  people 
flee  in  time  of  trouble.  After  a  weary  tramp  of 
another  twenty-five  li — the  Yiin-nan  li,  mind  you, 
the  most  unreliable  quantity  in  all  matters  geo- 
graphical in  the  province — I  asked  irritatedly,  as 
all  travellers  must  have  asked  before  me,  "  Then, 

164 


CHx\0-T'ONG-FU    TO    TONG-CH'UAN-FU. 

in  the  name  of  Heaven,  where  is  Kiang-ti  ?  "*  It 
should  come  into  view  behind  the  terrible  steep 
decline  when  one  is  within  only  about  a  hundred 
yards.  It  is  roughly  four  thousand  feet  below 
Ta-shui-tsing. 

Kiang-ti  is  an  important  stopping  place,  with 
but  one  forlorn  street,  with  two  or  three  forlorn  inns, 
the  best  of  which  has  its  best  room  immediately  over 
the  filthiest  stables,  emitting  a  stench  which  was 
almost  unbearable,  that  I  have  seen  in  China.  It 
literally  suffocates  one  as  it  comes  up  in  wafts  through 
the  wide  gaps  in  the  wood  floor  of  the  room.  There 
are  no  mosquitoes  here,  but  of  a  certain  winged  insect 
of  various  species, whose  distinguishing  characteristics 
are  that  the  wings  are  transparent  and  have  no 
cases  or  covers,  there  was  a  formidable  army.  I 
refer  to  the  common  little  fly.  There  was  the  house 
fly,  the  horse  fly,  the  dangerous  blue-bottle,  the 
impecunious  blow  fly,  the  indefatigable  buzzer,  and 
others.  One's  delicate  skin  got  beset  with  flies  : 
they  got  in  one's  ears,  in  one's  eyes,  up  one's  nose, 
down  one's  throat,  in  one's  coffee,  in  one's  bed  ;  they 
bade  fair  to  devour  one  within  an  hour  or  two,  and 
brought  forth  inward  curses  and  many  swishes  of  the 
'kerchief. 

The  village  seemed  a  death-trap. 

Glancing  comprehensively  at  one  another  as  I 
entered  the  higher  end  of  the  town,  a  party  of 
revelling  tea-drinkers  hastily  pulled  some  cash 
from  their  satchels  to  settle  accounts,  and  made 
a  general  rush  into  the  street,  where  they  awaited 
noisily  the  approach  of  a  strangely  wondrous  and 
imposing   spectacle,    one   that    had   not    been   seen 

*  Pronounced  Djang-di.  Famous  throughout  Western  China, 
for  its  terrible  hill,  one  of  the  most  difficult  pieces  of  country 
in  the  whole  of  the  west. 

165 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

in  those  parts  for  many  days.  The  tramper,  tired 
as  he  could  be,  at  length  approached,  but  the 
crowd  had  increased  so  enormously  that  the  road 
was  completely  blocked.  Tradesmen  with  their 
portable  workshops,  pedlars  with  their  cumbersome 
gear  and  pack-horses  could  not  pass,  but  had  to 
wait  for  their  turn ;  there  were  not  even  any 
tortuous  by-streets  in  this  place  whereby  they 
might  reach  their  destination.  Children  lost  them- 
selves in  the  crush,  and  went  about  crying  for  their 
mothers.  A  party  of  travellers,  newly  arrived  from 
the  south  by  caravan  route,  got  wedged  with  their 
worn-out  horses  and  mules  in  the  thick  of  the  mob, 
and  could  not  move  an  inch.  As  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach  the  blue-clad  throng  heaved  restlessly 
to  and  fro  under  the  blaze  of  the  brilliant  sun  which 
harassed  everyone  in  the  valley,  and,  moving  slowly 
and  majestically  in  the  midst  of  them  all,  came  the 
foreigner.  As  they  caught  sight  of  me,  my  sandalled 
feet,  and  the  retinue  following  on  wearily  in  the 
wake,  the  populace  set  up  an  ecstatic  yell  of  ferocious 
applause  and  turned  their  faces  towards  the  inn,  in 
the  doorway  of  which  one  of  my  soldier-men  was 
holding  forth  on  points  of  more  or  less  delicacy 
respecting  my  good  or  bad  nature  and  my  British 
connection.  At  that  moment,  the  huge  human  mass 
began  to  move  in  one  predetermined  direction,  and 
then  a  couple  of  mandarins  in  their  chairs  joined  the 
swarming  rabble.  I  had  to  sit  down  on  the  step  for 
five  minutes  whilst  my  boy,  with  commendable 
energy,  cleared  these  two  mandarins,  who  had 
come  from  Chen-tu  and  were  on  their  way  to  the 
capital,  out  of  the  best  room,  because  his  master 
wanted  it. 

As  he  finished  speaking,  there  came  a  loud  crashing 

i66 


CHAO-T'ONG-FU   TO    TONG-CH'UAN-FU. 

noise  and  a  shout — my  pony  had  landed  out  just 
once  again,  and  banged  in  one  side  of  a  chair  belong- 
ing to  these  travelling  officials.  They  met  me  with 
noisy  and  derisive  greetings,  which  were  returned 
with  a  straight  and  penetrating  look. 

No  less  than  fifty  degrees  was  the  thermometrical 
difference  in  Ta-shui-tsing  and  Kiang-ti.  Here  it  was 
stifling.  Cattle  stood  in  stagnant  water,  ducks  were 
envied,  my  room  with  the  sun  on  it  became  in- 
tolerable, and  I  sought  refuge  by  the  river  ;  my 
butter  was  too  liquid  to  spread  ;  coolies  were  tired 
as  they  rested  outside  the  tea-houses,  having  not  a 
cash  to  spend  ;  my  pony  stood  wincing,  giving  sharp 
shivers  of  his  skin,  and  moving  his  tail  to  clear  off 
the  flies  and  his  hind  legs  to  clear  off  men.  As  for 
myself,  I  could  have  done  with  an  iced  soda  or  a 
claret  cup. 

Very  earty  in  the  morning,  despite  malaria 
shivers,  I  made  my  way  over  the  beautiful  suspension 
bridge  which  here  graces  the  Niu  Lan,*  a  tributary 
of  the  Yangtze,  up  to  the  high  hills  beyond. 

This  bridge  at  Kiang-ti  is  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  by  twelve,  protected  at  one  end  by  a  couple  of 
monkeys  carved  in  stone,  whilst  the  opposite  end  is 
guarded  by  what  are  supposed  to  be,  I  believe,  a 
couple  of  lions — and  not  a  bad  representation  of 
them  either,  seeing  that  the  workmen  had  no  original 
near  at  hand  to  go  by. 

From  here  the  ascent  over  a  second  range  of  moun- 
tains is  made  by  tortuous  paths  that  wind  along  the 
sides  of  the  hills  high  ab  ove  the  stream  below,  and  at 

*  This  river,  the  Niu  Lan,  comes  from  near  YangUn,  one  day's 
march  from  Yiin-nan-fu.  It  is  being  followed  down  by  two 
American  engineers  as  the  probable  route  for  a  new  railway, 
which  it  is  proposed  should  come  out  to  the  Yangtze  some  days 
north  of  Kiang-ti.     (See  Appendix  E). 

167 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

other  times  along  the  river-bed.  The  river  is  followed 
in  a  steep  ascent,  a  sort  of  climbing  terrace,  from 
which  the  water  leaps  in  delightful  cascades  and 
waterfalls.  A  four-hour  climb  brings  one,  after 
terrific  labour,  to  the  mouth  of  the  picturesque  pass 
jof  Ya-ko-t'ang  at  7,500  feet.  In  the  quiet  of  the 
mountains  I  took  my  midday  meal ;  there  was  about 
the  place  an  awe-inspiring  stillness.  It  was  grand  but 
lonely,  weird  rather  than  peaceful,  so  that  one  was 
glad  to  descend  again  suddenly  to  the  river,  tracing 
it  through  long  stretches  of  plain  and  barren  valley, 
after  which  narrow  paths  lead  up  again  to 
the  small  village  of  Yi-che-shin,  considerably  below 
Ya-ko-t'ang,  It  is  the  sudden  descents  and  ascents 
which  astonish  one  in  travelling  in  this  region,  and 
whether  climbing  or  dropping,  one  always  reaches  a 
plain  or  upland  which  would  delude  one  into  believing 
that  he  is  almost  at  sea-level,  were  it  not  for  the 
towering  mountains  that  all  around  keep  one  hemmed 
in  in  a  silent  stillness,  and  the  rarefied  air.  Yi-che- 
shin,  for  instance,  standing  at  this  altitude  of  con- 
siderably over  6,000  feet,  is  in  the  centre  of  a  table- 
land, on  which  are  numerous  villages,  around  which 
the  fragrance  of  the  broad  bean  in  flower  and  the 
splendid  fertility  now  and  again  met  with  make  it 
extremely  pleasant  to  walk — it  is  almost  a  series  of 
English  cottage  gardens.  Here  the  weather  was  like 
July  in  England — or  what  one  likes  to  imagine  July 
should  be  in  England — dumb,  dreaming,  hot,  lazy, 
luxurious  weather,  in  which  one  should  do  as  he  pleases, 
and  be  pleased  with  what  he  does.  As  I  toiled  along, 
my  useless  limb  causing  me  each  day  more  trouble, 
I  felt  I  should  like  to  lie  down  on  the  grass,  with 
stones  'twixt  head  and  shoulders  for  my  pillow,  and 
repose,  as  Nature  was  reposing,  in  sovereign  strength. 

168 


CHAO-T'ONG-FU    TO    TONG-CH'UAN-FU. 

But  I  was  getting  weaker !  I  saw,  as  I  passed, 
gardens  of  purple  and  gold  and  white  splendour  ; 
the  sky  was  at  its  bluest,  the  clouds  were  full,  snowy, 
mountainous. 

Then  on  again  to  varying  scenes. 

Inns  were  not  frequent,  and  were  poor  and 
wretched.  The  country  was  all  red  sandstone,  and 
devoid  of  all  timber,  till,  descending  into  a  lovely 
valley,  the  path  crossed  an  obstructing  ridge,  and 
then  led  out  into  a  beautiful  park  all  green  and 
sweet.  The  country  was  full  of  colour.  It  put  a 
good  taste  in  one's  mouth,  it  impressed  one  as  a 
heaven-sent  means  of  keeping  one  cheerful  in  sad 
dilemma.  The  gardens,  the  fields,  the  skies,  the 
mountains,  the  sunset,  the  light  itself — all  were  fuU 
of  colour,  and  earth  and  heaven  seemed  of  one 
opinion  in  the  harmony  of  the  reds,  the  purples,  the 
drabs,  the  blacks,  the  browns,  the  bright  blues,  and 
the  yellows.  Birds  were  as  tame  as  they  were  in  the 
Great  Beginning  ;  they  came  under  the  table  as  I 
ate,  and  picked  up  the  crumbs  without  fear.  Peasant 
people  sat  under  great  cedars,  planted  to  give  shade 
to  the  travellers,  and  bade  one  feel  at  home  in  his 
lonely  pilgrimage.  Then  one  felt  a  peculiar  feeling 
— this  feeling  will  arise  in  any  traveller — when,  sur- 
mounting some  hill  range  in  the  desert  road,  one 
descries,  lying  far  below,  embosomed  in  its  natural 
bulwarks,  the  fair  village,  the  resting-place,  the  little 
dwelling-place  of  men,  where  one  was  to  sleep.  But 
when  towards  nightfall,  as  the  good  red  sun  went 
down,  I  was  led,  weary  and  done-up,  into  one  of  the 
worst  inns  it  had  been  my  misfortune  to  encounter, 
a  thousand  other  thoughts  and  feelings  united  in 
common  anathema  to  the  unenterprising  com- 
munity. 

169 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

Tea  was  bad,  rice  we  could  not  get,  and  all  night 
long  the  detestable  smells  from  the  wood  fires  choked 
our  throats  and  blinded  our  eyes  ;  glad,  therefore, 
was  I,  despite  the  heavy  rain,  to  take  a  hurried  and 
early  departure  the  next  morning,  descending  a 
thousand  feet  to  a  river,  rising  quite  as  suddenly  to  a 
height  of  8,500  feet. 

Now  the  road  went  over  a  mountain  broad  and 
flat,  where  travelling  in  the  sun  was  extremely 
pleasant — or,  rather,  would  have  been  had  I  been  fit. 
Pack-horses,  laden  clumsily  with  their  heavy  loads  of 
Puerh  tea,  Manchester  goods,  oil  and  native  exports 
from  the  Yiin-nan  province,  passed  us  on  the  moun- 
tain-side, and  sometimes  numbers  of  these  willing  but 
ill-treated  animals  were  seen  grazing  in  the  hollows, 
by  the  wayside,  their  backs  in  almost  every  instance 
cruelly  lacerated  by  the  continuous  rubbing  of  the 
wooden  frames  on  which  their  loads  were  strapped. 
!  For  cruelty  to  animals  China  stands  an  easy  first  ; 
love  of  animals  does  not  enter  into  their  sympathies 
at  all.  I  found  this  not  to  be  the  case  among  the 
Miao  and  the  I-pien,  however ;  and  the  tribes  across 
the  Yangtze  below  Chao-t'ong,  locally  called  the 
Pa-pu,  are,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  fond  of  horses,  and 
;  some  of  them  capable  horsemen. 

The  journey  across  these  mountains  has  no  perils. 
One  may  step  aside  a  few  feet  with  no  fear  of  falling 
a  few  thousand,  a  danger  so  common  in  most  of  the 
country  from  Sui-fu  downwards.  The  scenery  is 
magnificent — range  after  range  of  mountains  in 
whatever  direction  you  look,  nothing  but  mountains 
of  varying  altitudes.  And  the  patches  of  wooded 
slopes,  alternating  with  the  red  earth  and  more 
fertile  green  plots  through  which  streams  flow,  with 
rolhng   waterfalls,   picturesque   nooks   and  winding 

170 


CHAO-T'ONG-FU    TO    TONG-CH'UAN-FU. 

pathways,  make  pictures  to  which  only  the  gifted 
artist's  brush  could  do  justice.  Often,  gazing  over 
the  sunlit  landscape,  in  this  land  "  South  of  the 
Clouds,"  one  is  held  spellbound  by  the  intense 
beauty  of  this  little-known  province,  and  one  wonders 
what  all  this  grand  scenery,  untouched  and  un- 
marred  by  the  hand  of  man,  would  become  were  it 
in  the  centre  of  a  continent  covered  by  the  ubiquitous 
globe-trotter. 

No  country  in  the  world  more  than  West  China 
possesses  mountains  of  combined  majesty  and 
grace.  Rocks,  everywhere  arranged  in  masses  of  a 
rude  and  gigantic  character,  have  a  ruggedness 
tempered  by  a  singular  airiness  of  form  and  softness 
of  environment,  in  a  climate  favourable  in  some  parts 
to  the  densest  vegetation,  and  in  others  wild  and 
barren.  One  is  always  in  sight  of  mountains  rising 
to  fourteen  thousand  feet  or  more,  and  constantly 
scaling  difficult  pathways  seven  or  eight  or  nine 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea.  And  in  the  loneliness 
of  a  country  where  nothing  has  altered  very  much 
the  handiwork  of  God,  an  awe-inspiring  silence  per- 
vades everything.  Bold,  grey  cliffs  shoot  up  here 
through  a  mass  of  verdure  and  of  foliage,  and  there 
white  cottages,  perched  in  seemingly  inaccessible 
positions,  glisten  in  the  sun  on  the  coloured  mountain- 
sides. You  saunter  through  stony  hollows,  along 
straight  passes,  traversed  by  torrents,  overhung  by 
high  walls  of  rocks,  now  winding  through  broken, 
shaggy  chasm-S  and  huge,  wandering  fragments,  now 
suddenly  emerging  into  some  emerald  valley,  where 
Peace,  long  established,  seems  to  repose  sweetly  in 
the  bosom  of  Strength.  Everywhere  beauty  alter- 
nates wonderfully  with  grandeur.  Valleys  close  in 
abruptly,   intersected    by   huge    mountain   masses, 

171 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the   stony   water-worn    ascent    of   which   is   hardly 
passable. 

Yes,  Yiin-nan  is  imperatively  a  country  first  of 
mountains,  then  of  lakes.  The  scenery,  embodying 
truly  Alpine  magnificence  with  the  minute  sylvan 
beauty  of  Killamey  or  of  Devonshire,  is  nowhere 
excelled  in  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Empire. 


172 


/ 


CHAPTER    XII. 

Yiin-nan's  chequered  career.  Switzerland  of  China.  At 
Hong-shih-ai.  China's  Golden  Age  in  the  past.  The 
conservative  instinct  of  the  Chinese.  How  to  quiet  coolies. 
Roads.  Dangers  of  ordinary  travel  in  wet  season.  K'ung- 
shan  and  its  mines.  Tong-ch'uan-fu,  an  important  mining 
centre.  English  and  German  machinery.  Methods  of 
smelting.  Protestants  and  Romanists  in  Yiln-nan. 
Arrival  at  Tong-ch'uan-fu.  Missionaries  set  author's 
broken  arm.  Trio  of  Europeans.  Author  starts  for  the 
provincial  capital.  Abandoning  purpose  of  crossing  China 
on  foot.  Arm  in  splints.  Curious  incident.  At  Lai-t'eo- 
po.  Malaria  returns.  Serious  illness  of  author.  Delirium. 
Devotion  of  the  missionaries.  Death  expected.  Innkeeper's 
curious  attitude.  Recovery.  After-effects  of  malaria. 
Patient  stays  in  Tong-ch'uan-fu  for  several  months.  Then 
completes  his  walking  tour. 

YuN-NAN  has  had  a  chequered  career  ever  since  it 
became  a  part  of  the  empire.  In  the  thirteenth 
century  Kublai  Khan,  the  invincible  warrior, 
annexed  this  Switzerland  to  China ;  and  how  great 
his  exploits  must  have  been  at  the  time  of  this  addi- 
tion to  the  land  of  the  Manchus  might  be  gathered 
from  the  fact  that  all  the  tribes  of  the  Siberian 
ice-fields,  the  deserts  of  Asia,  together  with  the 
country  between  China  and  the  Caspian  Sea, 
acknowledged  his  potent  sway — or  at  least  so 
tradition  says.     She  is  sometimes  right. 

My  journey  continuing  across  more  undulating 
country  brought  me  at  length  to  Hong-shih-ai  (Red 
Stone  Cliff),  a  tiny  hamlet  hidden  away  completely 
in  a  deep  recess  in  the  mountain-side,  settled  in  a 
narrow  gorge,  the  first  house  of  which  cannot  be 
seen  until  within  a  few  yards  of  entry.  Inn  accom- 
modation,  as  was  usual,   was  by  no  means  good. 

173 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

/  It  is  characteristic  of  tliese  small  places  that  the 
greater  the  traffic  the  worse,  invariably,  is  the 
accommodation  offered.  Travellers  are  continually 
staying  here,  but  not  one  Chinaman  in  the  popula- 
tion is  enterprising  enough  to  open  a  decent  inn. 

]  They  have  no  money  to  start  it,  I  suppose. 

f^But  it  is  true  of  the  Chinese,  to  a  greater  degree 
than  of  any  other  nation,  that  their  Golden  Age 
is  in  the  past.  Sages  of  antiquity  spoke  with  deep 
reverence  of  the  more  ancient  ancients  of  the  ages, 
and  revered  all  that  they  said  and  did.  And  the 
rural  Chinaman  to-day  says  that  what  did  for  the 
sages  of  olden  times  must  do  for  him  to-day.  The 
conservative  instinct  leads  the  Chinese  to  attach 
undue  importance  to  precedent,  and  therefore  the 
people  at  Hong-shih-ai,  knowing  that  the  village 
has  been  in  the  same  pitiable  condition  for  genera- 
tions.  Hve   by   conservatism,   and   make   no   effort 

[wljatever  to  improve  matters. 

Fire  in  the  inn  was  kindled  in  the  hollow  of  the 
ground.  There  was  no  ventilation  ;  the  wood  they 
burned  was,  as  usual,  green  ;  smoke  was  suffocating. 
My  men  talked  well  on  into  the  night,  and  kept  me 
from  sleeping,  even  if  pain  would  have  allowed  me  to. 
I  spoke  strongly,  and  they,  thinking  I  was  swearing 
at  them,  desisted  for  fear  that  I  should  heap  upon 
their  ancestors  a  few  of  the  revihng  thoughts  I 
entertained  for  them.    ; 

[  I  should  like  to  say  a  word  here  about  the  roads 
in  this  province,  or  perhaps  the  absence  of  roads. 
They  had  been  execrable,  the  worst  I  had  met, 
aggravated  by  heavy  rains.  With  all  the  reforms 
to  which  the  province  of  Yiin-nan  is  endeavouring 
to  direct  its  energies,  it  has  not  yet  learned  that 
one  of  the  first  assets  of  any  district  or  country  is  good 

174 


CHAO-T'ONG-FU    TO    TONG-CH'UAN-FU. 

roads.  But  this  is  true  of  the  whole  of  the  Middle 
Kingdom.  The  contracted  quarters  in  which  the 
Chinese  live  compel  them  to  do  most  of  their  work  in 
the  street,  and,  even  in  a  city  provided  with  but  the 
narrowest  passages,  these  slender  avenues  are  per- 
petually choked  by  the  presence  of  peripatetic  vendors 
of  every  kind  of  article  of  common  sale  in  China,  and 
by  itinerant  craftsmen  who  have  no  other  shop  than 
the  street.  In  the  capital  city  of  the  province,  even, 
it  is  a  matter  of  some  difficulty  to  the  European  to 
walk  down  the  rough-paved  street  after  a  shower  of 
rain,  so  slippery  do  the  slabs  of  stone  become  ;  and  he 
has  to  be  alive  always  to  the  lumbering  carts,  whose 
wheels  are  more  solid  than  circular,  pulled  by  bullocks 
as  in  days  long  before  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  Era. 
The  wider  the  Chinese  street  the  more  abuses  can  it 
be  put  to,  so  that  travel  in  the  broad  streets  of  the 
towns  is  quite  as  difficult  as  in  the  narrow  alleys ; 
and  as  these  streets  are  never  repaired,  or  very  rarely, 
they  become  worse  than  no  roads  at  all — that  is, 
in  dry  weather. 

This  refers  to  the  paved  road,  which,  no  matter 
what  its  faults,  is  certainly  passable,  and  in  wet 
weather  is  a  boon.  There  is,  however,  another 
kind  of  road — a  mud  road,  and  with  a  vengeance 
muddy. 

An  ordinary  mud  or  earth  road  is  usually  only  wide 
enough  for  a  couple  of  coolies  to  pass,  and  in  this 
province,  as  it  is  often  necessary  (especially  in  the 
Yiin-nan-fu  district)  for  one  cart  to  pass  another, 
the  farmer,  to  prevent  trespass  on  his  crops,  digs 
around  them  deep  ditches,  resembling  those  which 
are  dug  for  the  reception  of  gas  mains.  In  the 
rainy  season  the  fields  are  drained  into  the  roads, 
which   at   times   are   constantly   under   water,    and 

175 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

beyond  Yiin-nan-fu,  on  my  way  to  Tali-fu,  I  often 
found  it  easier  and  more  speedy  to  tramp  bang 
across  a  rice  field,  taking  no  notice  of  where  the 
road  ought  to  be.  By  the  time  the  road  has  sunk  a 
few  feet  below  the  level  of  the  adjacent  land,  it  is 
liable  to  be  absolutely  useless  as  a  thoroughfare  ; 
it  is  actually  a  canal,  but  can  be  neither  navigated 
nor  crossed.  There  are  some  roads  removed  a  little 
from  the  main  roads  which  are  quite  dangerous, 
and  it  is  not  by  any  means  an  uncommon  thing  to 
hear  of  men  with  their  loads  being  washed  away  by 
rivers  where  in  the  dry  season  there  had  been 
the  roads. 

The  great  hues  of  Chinese  travel,   so  often  im- 
passable, might  be  made  permanently  passable  if  the 
governor  of  a  province  chose  to  compel  the  several 
district  magistrates  along  the  line  to  see  that  these 
important  arteries  are  kept  free  from  standing  water, 
with  ditches  in  good  order  at  all  seasons.     But  for 
the  village    roads — during   my    travels   over  which 
I  have  come  across  very  few  that  could    from  a 
Western     standpoint     be     called    roads — there     is 
absolutely  no  hope  until  such  time  as  the  Chinese 
village  may  come  dimly  to  the  apprehension  that 
what  is  for  the  advantage  of  the  one  is  for  the  advan- 
tage of  all,  and  that  wise  expenditure  is  the  truest 
economy — an  idea  of  which  it  has  at  the  present 
tmoment    as    little    conception    as    of    the    average 
■thought  of  the  EngHshman. 
^A  hundred  li  to  the  east  of  Hong-shih-ai,  over  two 
impassable  mountain  ranges,  are  some  considerable 
mines,  with  antiquated  brass  and  copper  smelting 
works,  and  this  place,   K'ung-shan  by  name,  with 
Tong-ch'uan-fu,  forms  an  important  centre.     As  is 
well   known,    all   the   copper   of   Yiin-nan    goes    to 

176 


^■^& 


f/-  ■ 


"'^'^^.. 


.\k.:'\ 


i>:^ 


7 /;t  diithvi  huth  d  hiokeii  ami,  and  t hi  pony  tluit  did  it. 


Chinese  home  life. 
I.oh-in-shan,  three  days  from  Tong-rh'uan-fu  (see  p.  131] 


\  - 


S  S  d 


E     O    D 


^    :.i2 


.-      CJ      r- 


£02 


:s;  ■= 


—  a 


CHAO-T'ONG-FU   TO    TONG-CH'UAN-FU. 

Peking  as  the  Government  monopoly,  excepting  the 
enormous  amount  stolen  and  smuggled  into  every 
town  in  the  province.* 

The  smelting  is  of  the  roughest,  though  they  are  at 
the  present  moment  laying  in  English  machinery, 
and  the  Chinaman  in  charge  is  under  the  impression 
that  he  can  speak  English  :  he,  however,  makes 
a  hopeless  jargon  of  it.  This  mining  locality  is 
sunk  in  the  deepest  degradation.  Men  and  women 
live  more  as  wild  beasts  than  as  human  beings, 
and  should  any  be  unfortunate  enough  to  die, 
their  corpses  are  allowed  to  lie  in  the  mines.  Who 
is  there  that  could  give  his  time  and  energy 
to  the  removal  of  a  dead  man  ?  Tong-ch'uan-fu 
should  become  an  important  town  if  the  rich  mineral 
country  of  which  it  is  the  pivot  were  properly 
opened  up.  Several  times  I  have  visited  the  works 
in  this  city,  which,  under  the  charge  of  a  small 
mandarin  from  Szech'wan,  can  boast  only  the  most 
primitive  and  inadequate  machinery,  of  German 
make.  A  huge  engine  was  running  as  a  kind  of 
pump  for  the  accumulation  of  air,  which  was  passed 
through  a  long  thin  pipe  to  the  three  furnaces  in  the 
outer  courtyard.  The  furnaces  were  mud-built, 
and  were  fed  with  charcoal  (the  most  expensive  fuel 
in  the  district),  the  maximum  of  pure  metal  being 
only  1,300  catties  per  day.  The  ore,  which  has  been 
roughly  smelted  once,  is  brought  from  K'ung-shan, 
is  finely  smelted  here,  then  conveyed  most  of  the 
way  to  Peking  by  pack-mule,  the  expense  in  thus 
handhng,  from  the  time  it  leaves  the  mine  to  its 
destination  at  Peking,  being  several  times  its  market 

*  In  the  capital  there  is  a  street  called  "  Copper  Kettle  Lane," 
where  one  is  able  to  buy  almost  anything  one  wants  in  copper 
and  brass.  Hundreds  of  men  are  engaged  in  the  trade,  and  yet 
it  is  "  prohibited."  These  "  Copper  Kettle  Lanes  "  are  found  in 
many  large  cities. — E.  J.  D. 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

value.  Nothing  but  copper  is  sought  from  the  ore, 
and  a  good  deal  of  the  gold  and  silver  known  to  be 
contained  is  lost. 

I  passed  an  old  French  priest  as  I  was  going  to 
Tong-ch'uan-fu  the  next  day.  He  was  very  pleased 
to  see  me,  and  at  a  small  place  we  had  a  few  minutes' 
chat  whilst  we  sipped  our  tea.  In  Yiin-nan,  I  found 
that  the  Protestants  and  the  Romanists,  although 
seeing  very  little  of  each  other,  were  not  engaged  in 
actual  warfare,  and,  communi  consensu,  went  their 
own  way,  maintaining  an  attitude  of  more  or  less 
friendly  indifference  one  towards  the  other.  It  is 
a  pity  that  this  could  not  be  said  of  all  the  other 
provinces.  I  heard  the  other  day  in  Szech'wan  of 
the  circulation  of  a  pamphlet  in  the  Chinese  character, 
issued  by  a  faction  of  the  Roman  Catholic  body 
which  may  be  termed  a  harmful  polemic,  calculated 
to  bring  no  good  result  to  the  Romanist  doctrine, 
and  tending  only  to  widen  the  breach  between 
Roman   Catholics   and   Protestants.* 


*  Without  wishing  here  to  hold  a  brief  for  either  party,  I 
imagine  that  the  gist  of  the  general  translation  of  this  pamphlet 
will  not  be  without  interest.  For  a  considerable  time  Protestant 
missionaries  in  the  area  of  Liang-shan-hsien  (in  Szech'wan)  have 
suffered  aggression  at  the  hands  of  the  Romanists,  the  latest 
phase  being  the  wide  distribution  of  this  booklet,  entitled  Simple 
Arguments  of  the  Church.  They  are  simple  indeed  !  The  first 
part  deals  with  an  attempt  to  prove  that  the  "  Heaven's  Lord 
Church  "  (T'ien  Chu  Huei)  is  the  only  true  church,  on  the  four 
points  of  Unity,  Sanctity,  Catholicity  and  Continuity  ;  while 
the  latter  portion  of  the  book  proves  to  the  mind  of  the  ordinary 
reader  that  the  "  Jesus  Church  "  is  false  on  each  and  all  of  these 
four  points.  It  were  a  pity  to  give  further  publicity  to  the  details 
presented  to  the  Chinese  of  this  vast  interior  province,  but  I  might 
say  it  is  evident  that  the  writer  bore  nothing  but  ill-will  to  that 
great  body  of  self-sacrificing  missionaries  comprising  the  Protes- 
tant bodies  at  work  in  the  Empire. 

"  In  the  '  Jesus  Church,'  "  says  the  translation,  "  there  are 
those  who,  following  the  teachings  of  Luther,  do  not  recognise 
him  as  its  founder.  You  need  not  fear  if  one  day  you  murder 
100,000  men,  and  defile  the  like  number  of  women,  only  firmly 
believe  in  Jesus  and  it  is  all  right  ;  other  matters  are  of  little 
importance,  and  because  of  worship,  merits,  scripture,  ceremonies, 

178 


CHAO-T'ONG-FU    TO    TONG-CH'UAN-FU. 

The  last  day's  march  to  Tong-ch'uan-fu  is  perhaps 
the  most  interesting  of  this  stage  of  my  journey. 
CHmbing  over  boulders  and  stony  steps,  I  reached  an 
altitude  of  8,500  feet,  whence  thirty  li  of  pleasant  going 
awaited  us  all  the  way  to  Lang-wang-miao  (Temple 
of  the  Dragon  King).  Here  I  sat  down  and  strained 
my  eyes  to  catch  the  ghmpse  of  the  compact  little 
walled  city,  where  I  hoped  my  broken  arm  would  be 
set  by  the  European  missionaries.  The  traveller 
invariably  hastens  his  pace  here,  expecting  to  run 
down  the  hill  and  across  the  plain  in  a  very  short 
space  ;  but  as  the  time  passed,  and  I  slowly  wended 
my  way  along  the  difficult  paths  through  the  rice 
fields,  I  began  to  reahse  that  I  had  been  duped, 
and  that  it  was  farther  than  it  seemed.  Two 
blushing  damsels,  maids  goodly  to  look  upon,  gave 
me  the  sweetest  of  smiles  as  I  strode  across  the 
bodies  of  some  fat  pigs  which  roamed  at  large  in 
the  outskirts  of  the  city,  the  only  remembrance  I 
have  to  mar  the  cleanliness  of  the  place. 

At  Tong-ch'uan-fu    the    Rev.  A.   Evans    and  his 

doctrines,  commandments,  all  may  be  altered  at  will — nothing  is 
settled." 

Speaking  of  pastors  and  their  authority  for  coming  to  lead 
others  to  heaven,  the  writer  was  of  the  opinion  that  no  doubt  need 
be  entertained  that  they  will  go  to  hell  with  those  they  lead  ; 
under  the  pretence  of  preaching  they  go  everywhere,  desiring 
only  to  make  money  so  as  to  return  to  their  own  countries  to  live 
in  pleasure  and  comfort.  "  And  why  publish  it  ?  Because  every- 
one knows  it." 

The  two  churches  spoken  of  were  impartially  and  clearly 
separated.  The  "  Jesus  Church  "  lacked  evidence,  its  doctrines 
had  no  proof.  Split  off  from  the  "  Heaven's  Lord  Church  "  they 
gave  rise  to  many  sects,  they  were  not  obedient  to  the  Pope,  and 
were  confused  and  without  regulations.  "  Pretending  to  propagate 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  they  go  everywhere  deceiving  the 
ignorant  and  making  mischief,  escaping  on  the  suspicion  of  danger. 
Adulterers  and  drunkards,  there  is  no  evil  thing  they  do  not 
practice,"  and  the  writer  concludes  by  asking  what  virtue  can 
these  men  preach,  being  of  such  disorderly  conduct,  and  asserting 
blandly  that  "  everyone  of  this  religion  drops  mto  the  pit  of  fire," 

The  reader  may  add  his  own  comment. — E.  J.  D. 

179 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

extremely  hospitable  wife  set  my  arm  and  did  every- 
thing they  could — as  much  as  a  brother  and  sister 
could  have  done — to  help  me,  and  to  make  my  short 
stay  with  them  a  most  happy  remembrance.  It  was, 
however,  destined  that  I  should  be  their  guest  for 
many  months,  as  shall  hereinafter  be  explained. 


A  trio  of  Europeans  might  have  been  seen  on  the 
morning  of  Monday,  May  lo,  1909,  leaving  Tong- 
ch'uan-fu  on  the  road  to  Yiin-nan-fu,  whither  the 
author  was  bound.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Evans,  who,  as 
chance  would  have  it,  were  going  to  Ch'u-tsing-fu, 
were  to  accompany  me  for  two  days  before  turning 
off  in  a  southerly  direction  when  leaving  the 
prefecture. 

It  was  a  fine  spring  morning,  balmy  and  bonny. 
It  was  decided  that  I  should  ride  a  pony,  and  this  I 
did,  abandoning  my  purpose  of  crossing  China  on 
foot  with  some  regret.  I  was  not  yet  fit,  had  my 
broken  arm  in  splints,  but  rejoiced  that  at  Yiin-nan- 
fu  I  should  be  able  to  consult  a  European  medical 
man.  Comparatively  an  unproductive  task — and 
perhaps  a  false  and  impossible  one — would  it  be  for 
me  to  detail  the  happenmgs  of  the  few  days  next 
ensuing.  I  should  be  able  not  to  look  at  things 
themselves,  but  merely  at  the  shadow  of  things — 
and  it  would  serve  no  profitable  end 

Suffice  it  to  say  that  two  days  out,  about  midday, 
a  special  messenger  from  the  capital  stopped  Mr. 
Evans  and  handed  him  a  letter.  It  was  to  tell  him 
that  his  going  to  Ch'u-tsing-fu  would  be  of  no  use, 
as  the  gentleman  he  was  on  his  way  to  meet  would 
not  arrive,  owing  to  altered  plans  After  consulting 
his  wife,  he  hesitated  whether  they  should  go  back 

180 


CHAO-T'ONG-FU    TO    TONG-CH'UAN-FU. 

to  Tong-ch'uan-fu,  or  come  on  to  the  capital 
with  me.  The  latter  course  was  decided  upon,  as 
I  was  so  far  from  well — I  only  learned  this  some 
time  afterwards.  And  now  the  story  need  not  be 
lengthened. 

At  Lai-t'eo-po  (see  first  section  of  the  second  book 
of  this  volume),  malaria  came  back,  and  an  abnormal 
temperature  made  me  delirious.  The  following  day 
I  could  not  move,  and  it  was  not  until  I  had  been 
there  six  days  that  I  was  again  able  to  be  moved. 
During  this  time,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Evans  nursed  me 
day  and  night,  relieving  each  other  for  rest,  in  a 
terrible  Chinese  inn — not  a  single  moment  did  they 
leave  me.  The  third  day  they  feared  I  was  dying, 
and  a  message  to  that  effect  was  sent  to  the  capital, 
informing  the  consul.  Meanwhile  malaria  played 
fast  and  loose,  and  promised  a  pitiable  early  disso- 
lution. My  kind,  devoted  friends  were  fearful  lest 
the  innkeeper  would  have  turned  me  out  into  the 
roadway  to  die — the  foreigner's  spirit  would  haunt  the 
place  for  ever  and  a  day  were  I  allowed  to  die  inside. 

But  I  recovered. 

It  was  a  graver,  older,  less  exuberant  walker  across 
China  that  presently  arose  from  his  flea-ridden  bed 
of  sickness,  and  began  to  make  a  languid  personal 
introspection.  I  had  developed  a  new  sensitiveness, 
the  sensitiveness  of  an  alien  in  an  alien  land,  in  the 
hands  of  new-made,  faithful  friends.  Without  them 
I  should  have  been  a  waif  of  all  the  world,  helpless 
in  the  midst  of  unconquerable  surroundings,  leading 
to  an  inevitable  destiny  of  death.  I  seemed  de- 
climatised,  denationalised,  a  luckless  victim  of  fate 
and  morbid  fancy. 

It  was  malaria  and  her  workings,  from  which  there 
was  no  escape, 

i8i 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

Malaria  is  supposed  by  the  natives  of  the  tropic 
belt  to  be  sent  to  Europeans  by  Providence  as  a 
chastening  for  otherwise  insupportable  energy  of  the 
white  man.  Malignant  malaria  is  one  of  Nature's 
watch-dogs,  set  to  guard  her  shrine  of  peace  and  ease 
and  to  punish  woeful  intruders.  And  she  had 
brought  me  to  China  to  punish  me.  As  is  her  wont, 
Nature  milked  the  manhood  out  of  me,  racked  me 
with  aches  and  pains,  shattered  me  with  chills, 
scorched  me  with  fever  fires,  pursued  me  with  des- 
pairing visions,  and  hag-rode  me  without  mercy. 
Accursed  newspapers,  with  their  accursed  routine, 
came  back  to  me  ;  all  the  stories  and  legends  that  I 
had  ever  heard,  all  the  facts  that  I  had  ever  learnt, 
came  to  me  in  a  fashion  wonderfully  contorted  and 
distorted  ;  sensations  welded  together  in  ghastly, 
brain-stretching  conglomerates,  instinct  with  in- 
dividuality and  personality,  human  but  torturingly 
inhuman,  crowded  in  upon  me.  The  barriers  divid- 
ing the  world  of  ideas,  sensations,  and  realities  seemed 
to  have  been  thrown  down,  and  all  rushed  into  my 
brain  like  a  set  of  hungry  foxhounds.  The  horror  of 
effort  and  the  futility  of  endeavour  permeated  my 
very  soul.  My  weary,  helpless  brain  was  filled  with 
hordes  of  unruly  imaginings  ;  I  was  masterless,  panic- 
driven,  maddened,  and  had  to  abide  for  weeks — yea, 
months — with  a  fever-haunted  soul  occupying  a 
fever-rent  and  weakened  body. 

At  Yiin-nan-fu,  whither  I  arrived  in  due  course 
after  considerable  struggling,  dysentery  laid  me  up 
again,  and  threatened  to  pull  me  nearer  to  the 
last  great  brink.  For  weeks,  as  the  guest  of  my 
friend,  Mr.  C.  A.  Fleischmann,  I  stayed  here  re- 
cuperating, and  subsequently,  on  the  advice  of  my 
medical  attendant.  Dr.  A.  Feray,  I  went  back  to 


CHAO-T'ONG-FU   TO    TONG-CH'UAN-FU. 

Tong-ch'uan-fu,  among  the  mountains,  and  spent 
several  happy  months  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Evans. 

Had  it  not  been  for  their  brotherly  and  sisterly 
zeal  in  nursing  me,  which  never  flagged  throughout 
my  illness,  future  travellers  might  have  been  able  to 
point  to  a  little  grave-mound  on  the  hilltops,  and  have 
given  a  chance  thought  to  an  adventurer  whom  the 
fates  had  handled  roughly.  But  there  was  more 
in  this  than  I  could  see ;  my  destiny  was  then 
slowly  shaping. 

Throughout  the  rains,  and  well  on  into  the  winter, 
I  stayed  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Evans,  and  then  con- 
tinued my  walking  tour,  as  is  hereafter  recorded. 


End  of  Book  I. 


183 


BOOK    II. 


The  second  part  of  my  trip  was  from  almost  the 
extreme  east  to  the  extreme  west  of  Yiin-nan — from 
Tong-ch'uan-fu  to  Bhamo,  in  British  Burma.  The 
following  was  the  route  chosen,  over  the  main  road 
in  some  instances,  and  over  untrodden  roads  in 
others,  just  as  circumstances  happened : — 

Tong-ch'uan-fu  to  Yiin-nan-fu  (the 

capital  city) 520  li. 

Yiin-nan-fu  to  Tali-fu 905  li. 

Tali-fu  to  Tengyueh  (Momien)  . .     855  li. 
Tengyueh  to  Bhamo  (Singai)      . .     280  English 

miles  approx, 

I  also  made  a  rather  extended  tour  among  the 
Miao  tribes,  in  country  untrodden  by  Europeans, 
except  by  missionaries  working  among  the  people. 


Cloth  dyers  in    Western  Cliiua. 

This  is  a  common  sight  in  towns  of  Yiin-nan,  especially  at  Tong- 
ch'uan-fu,  which  is  noted  for  its  indigo.  Scores  of  men  are  engaged  in 
the  business,  and  the  district  stands  unique  as  being  still  unaffected  by 
foreign  dyes.  Many  parts  of  China  have  discarded  the  native  dye  for  the 
foreign  product.  The  rows  of  cloth  are  seen  drying  in  the  sun,  being- 
brought  out  in  the  morning  and  taken  into  the  city  again  at  night. 


^'°  Outside  the  city  ivail  of  1  ong-cliiian-fu. 

The  basket  on  the  man's  back  shows  the  method  of  carrying  in  moun- 
tainous districts,  as  opposed  to  the  "  tiao  "  method.  The  cape,  a  long  white 
felt  covering  of  excellent  manufacture,  worn  by  the  other  man,  is  largely  woni 
by  people  engaged  in  work  in  hilly  neighbourhoods  in  N.E.  Yiin-nan. 


.^     o 


§   2 


FIRST    JOURNEY. 
TONG-CH'UAN-FU    TO    THE    CAPITAL. 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

Stages  to  the  capital.  Universality  of  reform  in  China. 
Political,  moral,  social  and  spiritual  contrast  of  Yiln-nan 
with  other  parts  of  the  Empire.  Inconsistencies  of  celestial 
life.  Author's  start  for  Burma.  The  caravan.  To  Che-chi. 
Dogs  fighting  over  human  hones.  Lai-t'eo-p'o  :  highest  point 
traversed  on  overland  journey.  Snow  and  hail  storms  at  ten 
thousand  feet.  Desolation  and  poverty.  Brutal  husband. 
Horse  saves  author  from  destruction.  The  one  hundred  li  to 
Kong-shan.  Wild,  rugged  moorland  and  mournful  mountains. 
Wretchedness  of  the  people.  Night  travel  in  Western  China. 
Author  knocks  a  man  down.  Late  arrival  and  its  vexations. 
Horrible  inn  accomtnodation.  End  of  the  Yiin-nan  Plateau. 
Appreciable  rise  in  temperature.  Entertaining  a  band  of 
inelegant  infidels.  European  contention  for  superiority, 
and  the  Chinaman' s  point  of  view.  Insoluble  conundrums  of 
"John's"  national  character.  The  Yiln-nan  railway. 
Current  ideas  in  Yiin-nan  regarding  foreigners.  Discourteous 
fu-song  and  his  escapades.  Fright  of  ill-clad  urchin.  Scene 
at  Yang-lin.     Arrival  at  the  capital. 

No  exaggeration  is  it  to  say  that  the  eyes  of  the  world 
are  upon  China.  It  is  equally  safe  to  say  that, 
whilst  all  is  open  and  may  be  seen,  but  little  is  under- 
stood^ 

In  the  Far  Eastern  and  European  press  so  much 
is  heard  of  the  awakening  of  China  that  one  is  apt 
really  to  believe  that  the  whole  Empire,  from  its 
Dan  to  Beersheba,  is  boiling  for  reform.  But  it 
may  be  that  the  husk  is  taken  for  the  kernel.  The 
husk  comprises  the  treaty  ports  and  some  of  the 
capital  cities  of  the  provinces  ;  the  kernel  is  that  vast 
sleepy   interior   of    China.      Few   people,    even    in 

187 


■J 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

Shanghai,  know  what  it  means ;  so  that  to  the  stay-at- 
home  European  pardon  for  ignorance  of  existing 
conditions  so  much  out  of  his  focus  should  readily 
be  granted. 

From  Shanghai,  up  past  Hankow,  on  to  Ichang, 
through  the  Gorges  to  Chung-king,  is  a  trip  hkely  to 
strike  optimism  in  the  breast  of  the  most  sceptical 
foreigner.  But  after  he  has  lived  for  a  couple  of  years 
in  an  interior  city  as  I  have  done,  with  its  antiquated 
legislation,  its  superstition  and  idolatry,  its  infanti- 
cide, its  girl  suicides,  its  public  corruption  and  moral 
degradation,  rubbing  shoulders  continually  at  close 
quarters  with  the  inhabitants,  and  himself  living  in 
the  main  a  Chinese  life,  our  optimist  may  alter  his 
opinions,  and  stand  in  wonder  at  the  extraordinary 
differences  in  the  most  ordinary  details  of  life  at 
the  ports  on  the  China  coast  and  the  Interior,  and 
of  the  gross  inconsistencies  in  the  Chinese  mind 
and  character.  If  in  addition  he  has  stayed  a  few 
days  away  from  a  city  in  which  the  foreigners 
were  shut  up  inside  the  city  walls  because  the 
roaring  mob  of  rebels  outside  were  asking  for  their 
heads,  and  he  has  had  to  abandon  part  of  his 
overland  trip  because  of  the  fear  that  his  own  head 
might  have  been  chopped  off  en  route,  he  may 
increase  his  wonder  to  doubt.  The  aspect  here  in 
Yiin-nan — politically,  morally,  socially,  spiritually — 
is  that  of  another  kingdom,  another  world.  Con- 
ditions seem,  for  the  most  part,  the  same  yester- 
day, to-day,  and  for  ever.  And  in  his  new 
environment,  which  may  be  a  replica  of  twenty 
centuries  ago,  the  dream  he  dreamed  is  now  dispelled. 
"  China,"  he  says,  "  is  not  awaking  ;  she  barely 
moves,  she  is  still  under  the  torpor  of  the  ages." 
And  yet  again,  in  the  capital  and  a  few  of  the  larger 


\ 


i88 


TONG-CH'UAN-FU    TO    THE    CAPITAL. 

cities,  under  your  very  eyes  there  goes  on  a  reform 
which  seems  to  be  the  most  sweeping  reform  Asia 
has  yet  known. 

Such  are  the  inconsistencies,  seemingly  unchange- 
able, irreconcilable  in  conception  or  in  fact ,  a  truthful 
portrayal  of  them  tends  to  render  the  writer  a  most  \ 
inconsistent  being  in  the  eyes  of  his  reader.  \ 

No  one  was  ever  sped  on  his  way  through  China 
with  more  goodwill  than  was  the  writer  when  he 
left  Tong-ch'uan-fu  ;  but  the  above  thoughts  were 
then  in  his  mind. 

Long  before  January  3rd,  1910,  the  whole  town  knew 
that  I  was  going  to  Mien  Dien  (Burma.)  Confessedly 
with  a  sad  heart — for  I  carried  with  me  memories 
of  kindnesses  such  as  I  had  never  known  before — 
I  led  my  nervous  pony.  Rusty,  out  through  the 
Dung  Men  (the  East  Gate),  with  twenty  enthusiastic 
scholars  and  a  few  grown-ups  forming  a  turbulent 
rear.  My  Chinese,  at  the  parting  outside  the 
Beggar's  Temple,  was  limited  to  "  Ching  an,"  but 
T  knew  that  their  unintelligible  expressions  were 
all  of  the  kindliest  intent.  As  I  strode  onwards 
the  little  group  of  excited  younkers  watched  me 
disappear  out  of  sight  on  my  way  to  the  capital 
by  the  following  route — the  second  time  of  trying : — 


Length  of 

Height 

stage. 

above  sea. 

ist   day— 

-Che-chi 

. .     90  h. 

.    7,800    ft 

2nd  day- 

-Lai-t'eo-p'o 

. .     90  U. 

.    8,500    ft 

3rd   day- 

-Kongshan  . . 

. .  100  h. 

.    6,700    ft 

4th   day- 

-Yang-kai     . . 

..     85   li. 

.    7,200    ft 

5th   day- 

-Ch'ang-p'o  . . 

• .     95   li- 

.  6,000   ft 

6th   day- 

-The  Capital 

.  .     70   h. 

.  6,400   ft 

189 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

My  caravan  consisted  of  two  coolies  :  one  carried 
my  bedding  and  a  small  basket  of  luxuries  in  case 
of  emergency,  the  other  a  couple  of  boxes  with 
absolute  necessities  (including  the  journal  of  the 
trip).  In  addition,  there  accompanied  me  a  man 
who  carried  my  camera,  and  whose  primary  business 
it  was  to  guard  my  interests  and  my  money — my 
general  factotum  and  confidential  agent — and  by  an 
inverse  operation  enrich  himself  as  he  could,  and 
thereby  maintain  relations  of  warm  mutual  esteem. 
They  received  thirty-two  tael  cents  per  man  per 
diem,  and  for  the  stopping  days  on  the  road  one 
hundred  cash.  Neither  of  them,  of  course,  could 
speak  a  word  of  English. 

The  ninety  li  to  Che-chi  was  mostly  along  narrow 
paths  by  the  sides  of  river-beds,  the  intermediate 
plains  having  upturned  acres  waiting  for  the  spring. 
At  Ta-chiao  (7,500  feet),  where  I  stayed  for  my  first 
alfresco  meal  at  midday,  the  man — a  tall,  gaunt, 
ugly  fellow,  pock-marked  and  vile  of  face — told  us 
he  was  a  traveller,  and  that  he  had  been  to  Shanghai 
This  I  knew  to  be  a  bare-faced  lie.  He  voluntarily 
explained  to  the  visitors,  gathered  to  see  the 
barbarian  feed,  what  condensed  milk  was  for,  but 
he  went  wide  of  the  mark  when  he  announced  that 
my  pony,*  hog-maned  and  dock-tailed  (but  Chinese 
still),  was  an  American,  as  he  said  I  was.  A  young 
mother  near  by,  suffering  from  acute  eye  inflamma- 
tion, was  lying  in  a  smellful  gutter  on  a  felt  mat, 
two  pigs  on  one  side  and  a  naked  boy  of  eight  or  so 
on  the  other,  whilst  she  heaped  upon  the  head  of  the 
innocent    babe    she    was    suckling    curses    most 

*  I  took  a  pony  because  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  return 
into  China  after  I  had  reached  Burma.  In  Tong-ch'uan-fu 
a  good  pony  can  be  bought  for,  say,  ;^3 — in  Burma,  the  same 
pony  would  sell  for  £10. — E.  J.  D. 

190 


TONG-CH'UAN-FU   TO    THE    CAPITAL. 

horribly  blood-curdling.  Dogs — the  universal 
scavengers  of  the  awakening  interior,  to  which 
merest  allusion  is  barred  by  one's  Western  sense  of 
decency — just  outside  Che-chi,  where  I  stayed  the 
night,  had  recently  devoured  the  corpse  of  a  little  child. 
Its  clothing  was  strewn  in  my  path,  together  with  the 
piece  of  fibre  matting  in  which  it  had  been  wrapped, 
and  the  dogs  were  then  fighting  over  the  bones. 

To  Lai-t'eo-p'o  was  a  day  that  men  might  call  a 
"  killer." 

It  is  a  dirty  little  place  with  a  dirty  little  street, 
l3nng  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain  known  throughout 
Western  China  as  one  of  the  wildest  of  Nature's 
comers,  nearly  ten  thousand  feet  high,  a  terrific 
climb  under  best  conditions.  A  clear  half-moon, 
and  stars  of  a  silvery  twinkle,  looked  pityingly  upon 
me  as  I  started  at  3.0  a.m.,  ignorant  of  the 
dangerously  narrow  defile  leading  along  cliffs  high 
up  from  the  Yili  Ho.  In  the  dark  cautiously  I 
groped  along.  Not  without  a  painful  emotion  of 
impending  danger,  as  I  watched  the  stellular 
reflections  dancing  in  the  rushing  river,  did  I  wander 
on  in  the  wake  of  a  group  of  pack-ponies,  and  took 
my  turn  in  being  assisted  over  the  broken  chasms 
by  the  muleteers.  Two  fellows  got  down  below 
and  practically  lifted  the  tiny  animals  over  the  passes 
where  they  could  not  keep  their  footing. 
Gradually  I  saw  the  nightlike  shadows  flee  away,^ 
and  with  the  dawn  came  signs  of  heavy  weather. 

Snow  came  cold  and  sudden.  As  we  slowly  and 
toilsomely  ascended,  the  velocity  of  the  wind  fiercely 
increased  ;  down  the  mountain-side,  at  a  hundred 
miles  an  hour,  came  clouds  of  blinding,  flinty  dust, 
making  the  blood  run  from  one's  lips  and  cheeks  as 
he  plodded  on  against  great  odds.     With  the  biting; 

191 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON   FOOT. 

wind,  howling  and  hissing  in  the  winding  ravines 
and  snow-swept  hollows,  headway  was  difficult. 
■Often  was  I  raised  from  my  feet :  helplessly  I  clung 
to  the  earth  for  safety,  and  pulled  at  withered  grass 
to  keep  my  footing.  The  ponies,  patient  little  brutes, 
with  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  strapped  to  their 
backs,  came  near  to  giving  up  the  ghost,  being  swayed 
hopelessly  to  and  fro  in  the  fury.  For  hours  we 
thus  toiled  up  pathways  seemingly  fitter  for  goats 
than  men,  where  leafless  trees  were  bending  destitute 
of  life  and  helpless  towards  the  valley,  as  the  keen 
wind  went  sighing,  moaning,  wailing  through  their 
bare  boughs  and  budless  twigs. 

Such  a  gale,  wilder  than  the  devil's  passion,  I 
have  not  known  even  on  the  North  Atlantic  in 
February. 

At  times  during  the  day  progression  in  the  deepen- 
ing snow  seemed  quite  impossible,  and  my  two  men, 
worn  and  weary,  bearing  the  burden  of  an 
excessively  fatiguing  day,  well-nigh  threw  up  the 
sponge,  vowing  that  they  wished  they  had  not  taken 
on  the  job. 

But  the  scenery  later  in  the  day,  though  monoto- 
nously so,  was  grand.  The  earth  was  Uterally  the  colour 
of  deep-red  blood,  the  crimson  paths  intertwining  the 
darker  landscape  bore  to  one's  imagination  a  vision  of 
some  bloody  battle — veritable  rivers  of  human  blood. 
To  cheer  the  traveller  in  his  desolation,  the  sun 
struggled  vainly  to  pierce  with  its  genial  rays  through 
the  heavy,  angry  clouds  rolling  lazily  upwards  from  the 
black  valleys,  and  enveloping  the  earth  in  a  deep 
infinity  of  severest  gloom.  The  cold  was  damp. 
In  the  small  hemmed-in  hollows,  whereto  our  path- 
way led,  the  icy  dew  clung  to  one's  hair  and  beard. 
Prom  little  brown  cottages,  with  poor  thatched  roofs 

192 


The  wayside  lodginQ-lioiise  of  Yiiii-uan. 


^^      The  author's  cavavan  on  Lai-feo-fo  Hill,  9,300  feet  above  the  sea 


Mountains  opposite  rise  to  about  14,000  feet. 


Two  days  from   To)ig-ch'uan-fu. 


TONG-CH'UAN-FU    TO    THE    CAPITAL. 

letting  in  the  light,  and  with  walls  and  woodwork 
long  since  uniformly  rotten,  men  and  women  emerged, 
rubbing  their  eyes  and  buttoning  up  their  garments, 
looking  wistfully  for  the  hidden  sun. 

At  Shao-p'ai  (8,ioo  feet)  a  brute  of  a  fellow  was 
administering  cruellest  chastisement  to  his  disobedient 
yoke-fellow,  who  took  her  scourging  in  good  part. 
I  passed  along  as  fast  as  I  could  to  the  ascent  over 
which  a  road  led  in  and  around  the  mountain  with 
alarming  steepness,  a  road  which  at  home  would  never 
be  negotiated  on  foot  or  on  horseback,  but  which 
here  forms  part  of  the  main  trade  route.  From  the 
extreme  summit  one  dropped  abruptly  into  a 
protecting  gorge,  where  falling  cascades,  sparkling 
like  crystal  showers  in  the  feeble  sunlight  occasionally 
breaking  through,  danced  playfully  over  the  smooth- 
worn,  slippery  rocks  ;  a  stream  foamed  noisily  over 
the  loose  stones,  and  leapt  in  rushing  rapids  where  the 
earth  had  given  way  ;  there  was  no  grass,  no  scenery, 
no  life,  and  in  the  sudden  turnings  the  hurricane 
roared  with  heavenly  anger  through  the  long  deep 
chasms,  over  the  twelve-inch  river-beds  at  the  foot. 

At  Lai-t'eo-p'o  accommodation  at  night  was 
fairly  good.  Men  laughed  hilariously  at  me  when 
I  raved  at  some  carpenters  to  desist  their  clumsy 
hammering  three  feet  above  my  head.  Hundreds 
of  dogs  yelped  unceasingly  at  the  moon,  and  with 
the  usual  rows  of  the  men  in  mutual  invitation  to 
"  Come  and  wash  your  feet,"  or  "  Ching  fan,  ching 
fan,"  the  draughts,  the  creaks  and  cracks,  the  un- 
intermitting  din,  and  so  much  else,  one  was  not 
sorry  to  rise  again  with  the  lark  and  push  onwards 
in  the  cold. 

Down    below    this    horrid    town     there     is     a 
plain  ;    in  this  plain  there  is  a  hole  fifty  feet  deep, 

193 
14 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT.      ' 

and  had  my  pony,  which  I  was  leading,  not  pulled 
me  away  from  falling  thereinto,  my  story  would  not 
now  be  telling. 

To  Kongshan  (6,700  feet),  past  Yei-chu-t'ang  (8,100 
feet)  and  Hsiao-lang-t'ang  (7,275  feet),  one  hundred 
11  away,  was  a  journey  through  country  considerably 
more  interesting,  especially  towards  the  end  of  the 
day,  a  peculiar  combination  of  wooded  slope  and 
rough,  rock-worn  pathways. 

Hsiao-lang-t'ang,  twenty-five  li  from  the  end  of 
the  stage,  overlooks  a  wide  expanse  of  barren, 
uninviting  moorland.  Deep,  jagged  gulHes  break  the 
uneven  rolHng  of  the  mountains ;  dark,  weird 
caverns  of  terrible  immensity  yawn  hungrily  from 
the  surface  of  weariest  desolation,  ever  widening 
with  each  turn.  Mist  hid  the  ughest  spots  high  up 
among  the  peaks,  whose  white  summits,  peeping 
sullenly  from  out  this  blue  sea  of  damp  haze,  told  a 
wondrous  story  of  winter's  withering  all  hfe  to  death, 
a  spot  than  which  in  summer  few  places  on  earth 
would  be  more  entrancing.  But  these  m.ountains  are 
breathing  out  a  sohtude  which  is  eternal.  Man  here 
has  never  been.  Far  away  beyond  hes  the  country 
of  the  aborigines  ;  but  even  the  Lolo,  wild  and 
rugged  as  the  country,  fearless  of  man  and  beast, 
have  never  dared  to  ascend  these  heights.  They 
are  mournful,  cheerless,  devoid  of  a  single  smile 
from  the  common  mother  of  us  all,  lacking  every 
feature  by  which  the  earth  draws  man  into  a  spirit 
of  unity  with  his  God.  Horrid,  frowning  waste  and 
aimless  discontinuity  of  land,  harbinger  of  lonehness 
and  of  evil !  People,  poor  strugghng  beings  of  our 
kind,  here  seemed  mocked  of  destiny,  and  a  hot 
raging  of  misery  waged  within  them,  for  all  that  the 
heart  might  desire  and  wish  for  had  to  them  been 

194 


TONG-CH'UAN-FU    TO    THE    CAPITAL. 

denied.  If,  indeed,  the  earth  be  the  home  of  hope, 
and  man's  greatest  possession  be  hope,  then  would 
it  seem  that  these  poor  creatures  were  entirely  cut 
off,  shut  out  from  life,  wandering  wearisomely- 
through  the  world  in  one  long  battle  with  Nature 
whereby  to  gain  the  wherewithal  to  live  in  that  grim 
desert.  There  were  no  exceptions,  it  was  the 
common  lot.  Each  day  and  every  day  did  these 
men  and  women,  with  a  stolidity  of  long-continued 
destitution,  and  temporal  and  spiritual  tribulation, 
gaze  upon  that  bare,  unyielding  country,  pregnant 
only  with  aggravation  to  their  own  dire  wretched- 
ness. 

In  such  spots,  unhappily  in  Yiin-nan  not  few,  does 
the  mystery  of  life  grow  ever  more  mysterious  to  one 
whom  distress  has  never  harassed.  A  great  pity 
seized  my  heart,  but  these  poor  people  would  prob- 
ably have  laughed  had  they  known  my  thoughts. 

As  I  passed  they  came  uninterestedly  to  look  upon 
me.  They  watched  in  expressive  silence ;  they 
were  silent  because  of  poverty.  And  I,  too,  kept 
a  seal  upon  my  lips  as  I  ate  the  good  things  here 
provided  under  the  eyes  of  those  to  whom  hunger 
had  given  none  but  a  jealous  outlook.  Pitiful 
enough  were  it,  thought  I,  merely  to  watch  without 
allowing  to  escape  speech  further  to  taunt  them.  So 
I  ate,  and  they  looked  at  me.  I  came  and  went,  but 
never  a  word  was  uttered  by  these  men  and  women, 
or  even  by  the  children,  whose  most  painful  feehng 
seemed  that  of  their  own  feebleness.  They  were 
indeed  feeble  units  standing  in  a  threatening  infini- 
tude of  life,  and  their  thoughts  probably  dwelt  upon 
my  luxury  and  wealth  as  mine  could  not  help  dwelling 
upon  their  hungry  town  of  hungry  men  and  famished 
children.     Words  cannot  paint  their  poverty — men 

195 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

void  of  hope,  of  life,  of  purpose,  of  idea.  Happy  for 
them  that  they  had  known  no  other. 

We  ascended  over  a  road  of  unspeakable  torture 
to  one's  feet.  Gazing  down,  far  away  into  a  seem- 
ingly bottomless  abyss,  we  could  faintly  hear  in  the 
lulhng  of  the  wind  the  rush  of  a  torrent,  fed  by  a 
hundred  mountain  streams,  which  washed  our  path 
and  in  horrible  disfigurement  tore  open  the  surface 
of  the  hillsides. 

The  long  day  was  drawing  wearily  to  a  close.  As 
the  sun  was  sinking  be^^ond  the  uneven  hills  over 
which  I  was  to  cHmb  before  the  descent  to  the  town 
begins,  the  effect  of  the  green  and  gold  and  red  and 
brown  produced  a  striking  picture  of  sweet  poetic 
beauty.  I  stood  in  contemplative  admiration 
meditating,  as  I  waited  for  my  cooHes,  who  sat 
moodily  under  a  dilapidated  roadside  awning,  non- 
chalantly picking  out  mouldy  monkey-nuts  from 
some  coarse  sweetmeat  sold  by  a  frowsy  female. 
Then  upwards  we  toiled  in  the  dark,  the  weird  groans 
of  my  exhausted  men  and  the  falling  of  the  gravel 
beneath  their  sandalled  feet  alone  breaking  the 
hollow's  gloom.  Uncanny  is  night  travel  in 
China. 

"  Who  knows  but  what  ghosts,  those  fierce-faced 
denizens  of  the  hills,  may  run  against  thee  and 
bewitch  thee,''  murmured  one  man  to  the  others. 
They  stopped,  and  I  stopped  with  them.  And  in 
the  darkness,  pegging  on  alone  at  the  mercy  of  these 
coolies,  my  own  thoughts  were  not  unsynchronistic. 

At  last,  with  no  slight  misgiving,  we  came  down 
into  the  city's  smoke.  Dogs  barked  at  me,  and  ran 
away  like  the  curs  they  are.  Midway  down  the 
stone  footway  my  yamen  ru'^ner  too  cautiously  crept 
up  to  me  in  the  dark,  muttering  something,  and  I 

196 


TONG-CH'UAN-FU    TO    THE    CAPITAL. 

floored  him  with  my  fist.     Afterwards  I  learnt  that 
he  came  to  reheve  me  of  the  pony  I  was  leading. 

Every  room  in  every  wretched  inn  was  occupied  ; 
opium  fumes  already  issued  from  the  doorways,  and 
it  was  now  pitch  dark,  so  that  I  could  scarce  see  the 
sallow  faces  of  the  hungry,  uncouth  crowd,  to  whom 
with  no  little  irritation  I  tried  to  speak  as  I  peered 
carefully  into  the  caravanserai.  Evident  it  certainly 
was  that  the  duty  lying  nearest  to  me  at  that  par- 
ticular moment,  to  myself  and  all  concerned  therein, 
was  to  accept  what  I  was  offered,  and  not  wear  out  my 
temper  in  grumbling.  My  boy,  Lao  Chang  (an  I-pien), 
the  brick,  expressed  to  me  his  regrets,  and  something 
like  real  sympathy  shone  out  from  his  eyes  in  the 
dimness. 

"  Puh  p'a  teh,  puh  p'a  teh  "  (  "Have  no  fear,  have 
no  fear  "),  said  he  ;  and  as  I  stood  the  while  piling 
up  cruellest  torture  upon  my  uncourtly  host,  he 
made  off  to  prepare  a  downstair  room  (to  lapse  into 
modem  boarding-house  phraseology). 

First  through  an  outer  apartment,  dark  as  darkest 
night ;  on  past  the  caterwauling  cook  and  a  few 
disreputable  culinary  hangers-on ;  asked  to  look 
out  for  a  pony,  which  I  could  not  see,  but  which  I  was 
told  might  kick  me  ;  then  onward  to  my  boy,  who 
stood  on  a  stool  and  dropped  the  grease  of  a  huge 
red  Chinese  candle  among  his  plaited  hair,  as  he 
wobbled  it  above  his  head  to  light  the  way.  He 
gripped  me  tenderly,  took  me  to  his  bosom  as  it 
were,  gave  me  one  push,  and  I  was  there.  He 
tarried  not.  What  right  had  he  to  listen  to  what 
I  in  secret  would  say  of  the  horrid  keeper  and  his 
twice  horrid  shakedown  inn  ?  He  passed  out  swiftly 
into  outer  darkness,  uttering  a  groan  I  rudely  inter- 
preted as,  "  That  or  nothing,  that  or  nothing." 

197 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

It  ivas  a  room,  that  is  in  so  far  as  four  sides,  a  floor 
and  a  ceiling  comprise  one.  Of  that  I  had  no  doubt. 
A  sort  of  uncomely  offshoot  from  the  main  inn 
building,  built  on  piles  in  the  earth  after  the  fashion 
of  the  seashore  houses  of  the  Malay — but  much 
dirtier  and  incomparably  more  shaky.  For  many 
a  long  year,  longer  than  mine  horrid  host  would  care 
to  recollect,  this  now  unoccupied  space  had  served 
admirably  as  the  common  cooking-room — the  ruined 
fireplace  was  still  there  ;  later,  it  had  been  the 
stable — the  ruined  horse  trough  was  still  there.  At 
one  extreme  comer  only  could  I  stand  upright ;  long 
sooty  cobwebs  graced  the  black  wood  beams  over- 
head, hanging  as  thick  as  icicles  in  a  mountain  valley  ; 
each  step  I  took  in  fear  and  trembhng  (the  slightest 
move  threatened  to  collapse  the  whole  dilapidation). 
Four  planks,  four  inches  \vide  at  the  widest  part  and 
of  varying  lengths  and  thicknesses,  placed  on  a  pile 
of  loose  firewood  at  the  head  and  foot,  comprised  the 
bedstead  on  which  I  tremulously  sat  down.  Upon 
this  improvised  apology  for  a  bed,  under  my 
mosquito  curtains  (no  traveller  should  be  without 
them  in  Western  China),  I  washed  my  blistered  feet 
on  an  ancient  Daily  Telegraph,  whilst  my  cook  saw 
to  my  evening  meal.  His  bringing  in  the  rice  tallied 
with  my  laying  the  tablecloth  in  the  same  place 
where  I  had  washed  my  feet — the  one  available 
spot. 

As  I  ate,  rats  came  brazenly  and  picked  up  the 
grains  of  rice  I  dropped  in  my  inefficient  handhng 
of  chopsticks,  and  in  scaring  off  these  hardened, 
hungry  vermin  I  accidentally  upset  tea  over  my  bed, 
whilst  at  the  same  moment  a  clod-hopping  coolie 
came  in  with  an  elephant  tread,  with  the  result  that 
my  European   reading-lamp   lost  its   balance  from 


TONG-CH'UAN-FU    TO    THE    CAPITAL. 

the  top  of  a  tin  of  native  sugar  and  started  a  con- 
flagration, threatening  to  make  short  work  of  me 
and  my  belongings — not  to  mention  that  horrid 
fellow  and  his  inn. 

During  the  night  the  moments  throbbed  away  as 
I  lay  on  my  flea-ridden  couch — moments  which 
seemed  long  as  hours,  and  no  gleaming  rift  broke 
the  settled  and  deepening  blackness  of  my  hateful 
environs.  Every  thing  and  every  place  was  full  of 
the  wearisome,  depressing,  beauty-blasting  common- 
place of  Interior  China.  Stenches  rose  up  on  the 
damp,  dank  air,  and  throughout  the  night,  through 
the  opening  of  a  window,  I  seemed  to  gaze  out  to  a 
disconsolate  eternity — gaping,  empty,  unsightly. 
Waking  from  my  dozing  at  the  hour  when  judgment 
sits  upon  the  hearts  of  men,  I  sat  in  ponderous 
judgment  upon  all  to  whom  the  bungling  of  the 
previous  day  was  due.  There  were  the  rats  and 
mice,  and  cats  and  owls,  and  creaks  and  cracks — no 
quiet  about  the  place  from  night  to  morning.  Then 
came  the  barking  of  dogs,  the  noises  of  the  cocks 
and  kine,  of  horses  and  foals,  of  pigs  and  geese — the 
general  wail  of  the  zoological  kingdom — cows  bellow- 
ing, duck  diplomacy,  and  much  else.  So  that  it  were 
not  surprising  to  learn  that  this  distinguished  traveller 
in  these  contemptible  regions  was  sitting  on  a  broken- 
down  bridge,  looking  wearily  on  to  the  broken-down 
tower  on  the  summit  of  a  pretty  little  knoll  outside 
Kongshan,  thinking  that  it  were  well  a  score  of  such 
were  added  did  their  design  embrace  a  warning  to 
evade  the  place. 

Having  done  some  twenty  li  by  moonlight,  I 
managed  with  little  difficulty  to  reach  Yang-kai 
(6,350  feet)  by  3.0  p.m.  This  road,  which  is  not 
the  main  road  to  the  capital,  was  purposely  chosen  ; 

199 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

most  travellers  go  through  Yang-lin.  The  journey 
is  comprised  of  pleasant  ascents  and  descents  over 
the  latter  portion  of  the  great  Yiin-nan  Plateau,  and 
a  very  appreciable  difference  in  the  temperature  was 
here  noticed.  While  the  people  at  the  north-east  of 
the  province,  from  which  I  had  come,  were  shivering 
in  their  rags  and  complaining  about  the  price  of 
charcoal,  the  population  here  basked  under  ItaUan 
skies  in  a  warm  sun.  From  Lui-shu-ho  (7,200  feet) 
the  country  was  beautifully  wooded  with  groves  of 
firs  and  chestnuts. 

At  the  inn  to  which  I  was  led  the  phlegmatic 
proprietor,  after  wishing  me  peace,  assumed  un- 
ostentatiously the  becoming  attitude  of  a  Customs 
official,  and  scrutinised  with  vigour  the  whole  of  my 
gear,  from  an  empty  Calvert's  tooth-powder  tin  to 
my  Kodak  camera,  showering  particularly  con- 
descending felicitations  upon  my  Enghsh  Bamsby 
saddle  and  field-glasses  thereto  attached. 

His  excitement  rose  at  once. 

He  called  loudly  for  his  confederates — a  band  of 
inelegant  infidels — and  bidding  them  stand  one  by 
one  at  given  distances,  he  gaped  at  them  through  the 
glasses  with  the  hilarity  of  a  schoolboy  and  the 
stupidity  of  an  owl.  He  jumped,  he  shouted,  he 
waved  his  arms  about  me,  and  handing  them  back 
to  me  with  both  hands,  shouted  deafeningly  in  my 
ear  that  they  were  quite  beyond  his  ken  ;  and  then 
he  sucked  his  teeth  disgustingly  and  spat  at  my  feet. 
His  associates  were  speechless,  asses  that  they  were, 
and  could  only  stare,  in  horror  or  impudence  I  know 
not. 

Meantime  Lao  Chang  brought  tea,  and  sallied 
forth  immediately  to  fraternise  among  old  friends. 
As  I  drank  my  tea,  after  having  invited  them  one  by 

200 


^!^m^vi  : 


Man  and  beast  of  Yiin-nan. 

The  ponies  are  probably  the  sturdiest  ^minials  in  the  world,  and  certainly  rank 
among  the  hardest  workers.     One  cannot  truthfully  write  this  of  the  men  ! 


Charcoal   canicvs  on   tnc  way  to   \  un-nan-Jn. 
The  fellow  on  the  left  is  carrying  rice. 


^t 


^ 


-1 


■j:; 


^o 


-4 


TONG-CH'UAN-FU    TO    THE    CAPITAL. 

one  to  j  oin  me,  slowly  and  with  a  fitting  dignity,  the 
empty  stare,  destitute  of  sense  or  sincerity,  of  these 
six  upstanding  Chinese  gentry,  sucking  at  tobacco- 
pipes  as  long  as  their  own  overfed  bodies,  forced 
upon  me  a  sense  of  my  unfitness  to  the  unknown 
conditions  of  the  life  of  the  place,  a  sense  of  loneliness 
and  social  unshelteredness  in  the  sterile  waste  of 
their  fashionable  life.  They  spoke  to  me  subse- 
quently, and  I  bravely  threw  at  them  a  Chinese 
phrase  or  two  ;  but  when  the  conversation  got  above 
my  head,  and  I  told  them,  quietly  but  determinedly, 
that  I  could  not  understand,  my  Enghsh  speech 
seemed  vaguely  to  indicate  a  sudden  collapse  of  the 
acquaintance,  the  opening  of  a  gulf  between  us, 
destined  to  widen  to  the  whole  length  and 
breadth  of  Yang-kai,  swallowing  up  their  erstwhile 
confidences.  One  of  them  facetiously  remarked  that 
the  gentleman  wished  to  eat  his  rice  ;  and  as  they 
cleared  out,  falling  over  each  other  and  the  high  step 
at  the  entrance  to  the  room,  I  thought  that  no 
matter  how  old  they  are,  Chinese  are  but  little  children 
weak.  But  had  I  treated  them  as  Httle  children 
I  should  have  found  that  they  were  old  men. 

There  was  in  me  withal  a  sense  of  better  rank  in 
the  eyes  of  this  super-excellent  few  who  worshipped, 
in  "  heathen  "  China,  the  Satan  of  Fashion.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  their  rank  had  emerged  from  such  long 
centuries  ago  that  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  so  identified 
with  them  that  they  were  hardly  capable  of  analysis 
of  people  such  as  myself.  As  I  looked  pitifully  upon 
them  and  the  involved  simplicity  of  their  immutable 
natures,  I  realised  an  unconquerable  feeling  of  inborn 
rank  and  natural  elevation  in  respect  to  nationality^ 
This  is,  however,  against  my  personal  general  con 
caption  of  Eastern  peoples,  but  I  must  admit  I  felt 

20I 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

it  this  afternoon.  And  so  perhaps  it  is  with  the 
majority  of  Europeans  in  the  Far  East,  who,  because 
they  have  no  knowledge  of  the  language  or  a 
familiarity  with  national  customs  and  ideas,  remain 
always  aliens  with  the  Easterner.  They  cannot 
sympathise  with  him  in  his  joys  and  sorrows,  his 
hkes  and  dislikes,  his  prejudice  and  bias,  or  under- 
stand anything  of  his  point  of  view.  This  is  one  of 
the  hardest  lessons  for  the  European  traveller  in 
China  who  has  none  of  the  language.  Because  we 
<ij  not  understand  him,  we  call  the  Chinaman  a 
heathen — it  is  easier. 

Now,  to  the  Chinaman  his  country  is  the  best  in 
the  world,  his  province  better  than  any  other  of  the 
eighteen,  and  the  village  in  which  he  lives  the  most 
enviable  spot  in  the  province — the  centre  of  his 
universe.  Speak  disparagingly  about  that  little 
circle,  critically  or  sympathetically,  and  he  is  at 
once  up  against  you.  It  may  develop  narrowness 
of  mind  and  smallness  of  soul.  We  Westerners 
think  we  know  that  it  does  ;  and  the  fact  that  he 
allows  his  mental  horizon  to  be  bounded  by  such 
narrow  confines  appears  to  us  to  render  him  any- 
thing but  a  desirable  citizen  and  a  full-sized  man. 
But  no  matter.  The  Chinaman,  on  the  other  hand, 
regards  all  those  men  who  have  never  tasted  the 
bliss  of  a  true  home  in  the  Empire  which  is  celestial 
as  barbarians — part  of  this  feeling  is  patriotism 
and  love  of  country,  part  is  rank  conceit.  But 
Englishmen  are  saying  that  England  is  the  most 
Christian  country  in  the  world  for  the  very  same 
reason. 

Rationally  speaking,  John  is  the  "  old  brother  "  of 
the  world,  oldest  of  any  race  by  very  many  centuries. 
In  common  with  all  other  travellers  and  those  who 


202 


TONG-CH'UAN-FU    TO    THE    CAPITAL. 

have  lived  with  this  man,  and  who  have  made  his 
nature  a  serious  study,  apart  from  racial  bias,  I  am 
perplexed  with  conundrums  which  cannot  be  solved. 
Some  of  the  conundrums  are  perhaps  superficial,  and 
disappear  with  a  deeper  insight  into  his  life  ;  others 
are  wrought  into  his  being.  Yet  he  has  a  fixedness 
of  character,  reaching  in  some  directions  to  absolute 
crystaUisation  ;  he  possesses  the  virility  of  young 
manhood  and  many  of  the  mutually  inconsistent 
traits  of  late  manhood  and  early  youth.  I  wonder 
at  his  ignorance  of  merest  rudimentary  political 
economy — but  why  ?  This  man  explored  centuries 
ago  the  cardinal  theories  of  some  of  our  present-day 
Western  classics.  However,  I  have  to  teach  him 
the  form  of  the  earth  and  the  natural  causes  of 
eclipses.  He  is  frightened  by  ghosts,  burns  mock 
money  to  maintain  his  ancestors  in  the  future  state, 
worships  a  bit  of  rusty  old  iron  as  an  infallible 
remedy  for  droughts  ;  I  have  seen  him  shoot  at 
clouds  from  the  city  wall  to  frighten  away  the  rain — 
and  I  despise  him  for  it  all.  As  I  revise  this  copy,  a 
rumour  is  current  in  the  town  in  which  I  am  resting 
to  the  effect  that  foreigners  are  buying  children  and 
using  their  heads  to  oil  the  wheels  of  the  new 
Yiin-nan  railway,  and  I  despise  him  for  believing  it. 
The  Chinaman  will  not  fight,  and  I  sneer  at  him  ;  he 
abhors  me  because  I  do.  I  ridicule  his  manner  of 
dress  ;  he  thinks  mine  grossly  indecent.  I  consider 
his  flat  nose  and  the  plaited  hair  and  shaven  skull 
as  heathenish  ;  but  the  Chinaman,  eating  away  with 
his  to  me  ridiculous  chopsticks,  looks  out  from  his 
quick,  almond-shaped  eyes  and  considers  me  still  a 
foreign  devil,  although  he  is  too  cunning  to  tell  me. 
His  opinions  of  me  are  founded  upon  the  narrow 
grounds  of  vanity  and  egotism  ;   mine,  although  I  do 

203 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

not  admit  it  even  to  myself,  from  something  very 
much  akin  thereto.* 

I  have  been  looked  upon  in  far-away  outposts  of 
the  Chinese  Empire  where  foreigners  are  still  un- 
known, as  an  example  of  those  human  monstrosities 
which  come  from  the  West,  a  creature  of  a  very  low 
order  of  the  human  species,  with  a  form  and  face 
uncouth,  with  language  a  hopeless  jargon,  and  with 
manners  unbearably  rude  and  obnoxious.  Not 
that  /  personally  answer  accurately  to  this  descrip- 
tion, reader,  any  more  than  you  would,  but  because 
I  happen  to  be  among  a  people  who,  as  far  back  as 
Chinese  opinion  of  foreigners  can  be  traced,  have 
considered  themselves  of  a  moraUty  and  intellec- 
tuality superior  to  yours  and  mine. 

I  write  the  foregoing  because  it  sums  up  what  may 
be  termed  the  current  ideas  regarding  Europeans, 
ideas  the  reverse  of  complimentary,  which  are  the 
more  unfortunate  on  account  of  the  fact  that  they 
are  held  by  the  vast  majority  of  a  people  forming  a 
quarter  of  the  whole  human  race.  This  is  true, 
despite  all  the  reform. 

These  ideas  may  be,  and  I  trust  they  are,  erroneous, 
but  I  know  that  I  must  keep  in  mind  the  extremely 
important  desideratum  in  dealing  with  the  Chinese 
that  they  look  at  me — my  person,  my  manners,  my 
customs,  my  theories,  my  things — through  Chinese 
eyes,  and  although  mistaken,  misled,  reach  their 
own  conclusions  from  their  own  point  of  view.  This 
is  what  they  have  been  doing  for  centuries,  but  we 
know  that  it  all  now  is  being  subjected  to  slow 
change.     The  original  stock,  however,  takes  on  no 

*  For  further  excellent  descriptions  of  the  Chinese  nature 
I  refer  the  reader  to  Chester  Holcombe's  China :  Past  and 
Present. — E.  J.  D. 


204 


TONG-CH'UAN-FU    TO    THE    CAPITAL. 

change  whatever,  and  several  generations  must  pass 
before  this  transfer  of  mental  vision  can  be  effected, 
when   the   Chinaman  will  view  all   things   and   all  j 
peoples  in  their  true  light.  _  .  7 

Next  morning  my  three  men  were  heavy.  The 
lean  fellow — I  have  christened  him  Shanks,  a  long, 
shambling  human  bag  of  bones — moved  about 
painfully  in  a  hstless  sort  of  way,  betokening  severe 
rheumatics ;  his  joints  needed  oil.  Four  or  five 
huge  basins  of  steaming  rice  and  the  customary 
amount  of  reboiled  cabbage,  however,  bucked  him 
up  a  bit,  and  holding  up  a  crooked,  bony  finger,  he 
indicated  intelligently  that  we  had  one  hundred  li  to 
cover.  Whilst  engaged  in  conversation  thus,  sounds 
of  early  morning  revelry  reached  me  from  below. 
My  boy,  his  accustomed  serenity  now  quite  dis- 
turbed, held  threateningly  above  the  head  of  the 
yamen  runner  (who  had  given  me  a  profound  kotow 
the  evening  previous  prior  to  taking  on  his  duties) 
a  length  of  three-inch  sugar  cane  ;  he  evidently 
meant  to  flatten  him  out.  This  I  learned  was 
because  this  shadower  of  the  august  presence  wished 
to  take  Yang-lin  (about  60  li  away)  instead  of  going 
to  Ch'ang-p'o  (100  H)  as  I  intended.  I  got  him  in, 
looked  him  as  squarely  in  the  face  as  it  is  possible 
when  a  Chinaman  wants  to  evade  your  scrutiny, 
told  him  I  wished  to  go  to  Ch'ang-p'o,  and  that  I 
hoped  I  should  have  the  pleasure  of  his  company 
thus  far.  He  replied  with  a  grinning  smile, 
which  one  could  easily  have  taken  for  a  smiling 
grin— 

"  Oh,  yes,  foreign  mandarin,  Ch'ang-p'o — 100  li — 
foreign  mandarin,  foreign  mandarin." 

And  I  thought  the  incident  closed.  Such  is  the 
appalling  gullibility  of  the  Englishman  in  China. 

205 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

We  stopped  for  tea  at  a  small  hamlet  ten  li  out. 
The  place  was  deserted  save  for  a  small  starving 
boy,  whose  chief  attention  was  given  to  laborious 
endeavours  to  make  his  clothing  meet  in  certain 
necessary  areas.  He  evidently  had  never  seen  a 
foreigner.  As  he  directed  his  optics  towards  me  he 
winced  visibly.  He  walked  round  me  several  times, 
fell  over  a  grimy  pail  of  soap-suds,  stopped,  gazed 
in  enraptured  enchantment  with  parted  lips  and 
outstretched  arms  as  if  he  had  begun  to  suspect 
what  it  was  before  him.  To  the  eye  of  the  beholder, 
however,  he  gazed  as  yet  only  on  vacancy,  but 
just  as  I  was  about  to  attempt  self-explanation 
he  was  gone,  tearing  away  down  the  hill  as  fast 
as  his  legs  could  carry  him,  and  the  ragged 
remains  of  his  father's  trousers  flapping  gently  in 
the  breeze.  As  I  rose  to  leave  crackers  frightened 
my  pony,  followed  in  a  few  moments  by  a  howling, 
hooting,  unreasonable  rabble  from  a  temple  near  by. 
I  found  it  was  the  result  of  a  village  squabble.  I 
could  scarce  keep  the  order  of  my  march  as  I  left 
the  tea-shop,  so  roughly  was  I  handled  by  the 
irritated  and  impatient  crowd,  and  had  much  ado 
to  refrain  from  responding  wrathfully  to  the  repeated 
jeers  of  impudent,  half-grown  beggars  of  both 
sexes  who  helped  to  swell  the  riotous  cortege.  But 
through  it  all  none  of  the  insults  were  meant  for  me, 
so  Lao  Chang  told  me,  and  they  did  not  mean  to 
treat  me  with  discourtesy. 

Trees  hollowed  out  and  spanned  from  field  to  field 
served  for  gutters  for  irrigation  ;  shepherds  clad  in 
white  felt  blankets  sat  huddled  upon  the  ground 
behind  huge  boulders,  oblivious  of  time  and  of  the 
boisterous  wind,  while  their  sheep  and  goats  grubbed 
away  on  the  scanty  grass  the  moorland  provided; 

206 


TONG-CH'UAN-FU    TO    THE    CAPITAL. 

high  up  we  saw  forest  fires,  making  the  earth  black 
and  desolate  ;  ruins  almost  everywhere  recalled  to 
one's  mind  the  image  of  a  past  prosperity,  which  now 
was  replaced  by  traces  of  misery,  exterior  influences 
which  seemed  to  breed  upon  the  traveller  a  deep 
discouragement.  I  came  across  some  women  mock- 
weeping  for  the  dead  :  at  their  elbow  two  girls  were 
washing  clothes,  and  when  Httle  children,  catching 
sight  of  me,  ran  to  their  mothers,  the  women  stopped 
their  hulla-baloo,  had  a  good  stare  at  me,  exchanged 
a  few  words  of  mutual  inquiry,  and  then  resumed 
their  bellowing. 

Soon  it  became  quite  warm,  and  walking  was 
pleasant.  I  was  startled  by  the  fu-song*  who  invited 
me  to  go  to  a  neighbouring  town  for  tea.  My  men 
were  far  behind.  I  was  at  his  mercy,  so  I  went. 
Soon  I  found  myself  passing  through  the  city  gates 
of  Yang-lin,  the  very  town  I  was  trying  to  keep  away 
from.  The  yamen  fellow  turned  back  at  me  and 
chuckled  rudely  to  himself.  I  insisted  that  I  did 
not  wish  to  take  tea  ;  he  insisted  that  I  should — I 
must.  He  led  me  to  an  inn  in  the  main  street, 
arrangements  were  made  to  house  me,  old  men  and 
young  lads  gathered  to  welcome  me  like  a  lost 
brother,  and  the  fii-song  told  me  graciously  that  he 
was  going  to  the  magistrate.  In  cruel  English,  with 
many  wildly  threatening  gestures,  did  I  protest, 
and  the  people  laughed  acquiescingly. 

"  Puh  tong,  puh  tong,  you  gaping  idiots ! "  I 
repeated,  and  it  caused  more  glee. 

Swinging  myself  past  them  all,  I  dragged  my 
stubborn  pony  through  the  mob  to  the  gate  by  which 
I  had  entered.  My  men  were  not  to  be  found.  I 
did  not  know  the  road  or  the  language.     I  sat  down 

*  i.e.  Yamen  escort.     [See  p.  j^il- 
207 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

on  a  granite  pillar  to  undergo  an  embarrassing  half- 
hour.  Presentl}^  my  men  hailed  me,  and  approach- 
ing, swore  with  imposing  loftiness  at  the  discomfited 
guide.  My  bulldog  cooUe  dropped  his  loads,  the 
fu-song  somehow  lost  his  footing,  I  yelled  "  Ts'eo  " 
("  Go  "),  and  with  a  cheer  the  caravan  proceeded. 
The  following  day  we  were  at  the  capital. 


208 


A  native  Christian  and  his  wife  at  Dch-t^ao-shan,  on  the  opposite  side 

of  the  Tong-ch' nan-fu  plain. 

The  photo  was  taken  after  his  idols  had  been  burnt. 


A  city  in  Western  China. 
Showing  the  graves  in  the  foreground. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

YIJN-NAN-FU,   THE   CAPITAL. 

Access  to  Yiin-nan-fu.  Concentrated  reform.  Tribute  to 
Hsi  Liang.  Conservatism  and  progress.  The  Tonkin- 
Yiin-nan  Railway.  The  Yiin-nan  army.  Author's 
views  in  1909  and  1910  contrasted.  Phenomenal  forward 
march,  and  what  it  means.  Danger  of  too  much  drill. 
International  aspect  on  the  frontier.  The  police.  Street 
improvements.  Visit  to  the  gaol,  and  a  description.  The 
Young  Pretender  to  the  Chinese  throne.  How  the  prison  is 
conducted.  The  schools.  Visit  to  the  university,  and  a 
description.  Riot  among  the  students.  Visit  to  the 
Agricultural  School,  and  a  description.  Silk  industry  of 
Yiin-nan. 

YuN-NAN-FU  to-day  is  as  accessible  as  Peking. 
After  many  weary  years  the  Tonkin- Yiin-nan 
railway  is  now  an  accomplished  fact,  and  links  this 
capital  city  with  Haiphong  in  three  days. 

Reform  concentrates  at  the  capital.  The  man 
who  visited  Yiin-nan-fu  twenty,  or  even  ten  years 
ago,  would  be  astounded,  were  he  to  go  there  now, 
at  the  improvements  visible  on  every  hand  A 
building  on  foreign  lines  was  then  a  thing  unknown, 
and  the  conservative  Viceroy,  Tseng  Kong  Pao, 
the  decapitator  in  his  time  of  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  human  beings,  would  turn  in  his  grave 
if  he  could  behold  the  utter  annihilation  of  his  pet 
"  feng  shui,"  which  has  followed  in  the  wake  of  the 
good  works  done  by  the  late  loved  Viceroy,  Hsi 
Liang. 

The  name  of  Hsi  Liang  is  revered  in  the  province 
of  Yiin-nan  as  the  most  able  man  who  has  ever  ruled 


209 
15 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the  two  provinces  of  Yiin-nan  and  Kwei-chow,  a 
man  of  keen  intellectuality  and  courtly  manner, 
and  notorious  as  being  the  only  Mongolian  in  the 
^ervice  of  China's  Government.  I  lived  in  Yiin-nan-fu 
^  for  several  weeks  at  a  stretch,  and  since  then  have 
made  frequent  visits,  and  knowing  the  enormous 
strides  being  made  towards  acquiring  Occidental 
methods,  I  now  find  it  difficult  to  write  with  absolute 
accuracy  upon  things  in  general.  But  I  have  found  this 
to  be  the  case  in  all  my  travels.  What  is,  or  seems 
to  be,  accurate  to-day  of  any  given  thing  in  a  given 
place  is  wrong  to-morrow  under  seemingly  the  same 
conditions ;  and  although  no  theme  could  be  more 
tempting,  and  no  subject  offer  wider  scope  for  inge- 
nious hypothesis  and  profound  generahsation,  one  has 
to  forego  much  temptation  to  "  colour  "if  he  would 
be  accurate  of  anything  he  writes  of  the  Chinese. 
Eminent  sinologues  agree  as  to  the  impossibility 
of  the  conception  of  the  Chinese  mind  and  character 
as  a  whole,  so  glaring  are  the  inconsistencies  of  the 
Chinese  nature.  And  as  one  sees  for  himself  in  this 
great  city,  particularly  in  official  life,  the  business- 
like practicability  on  the  one  hand  and  the  utter 
absurdity  of  administration  on  the  other,  in  all 
modes  and  methods,  one  is  almost  inchned  to  drop 
his  pen  in  disgust  at  being  unable  to  come  to  any 
concrete  conclusions. 

Of  no  province  in  China  more  than  of  Yiin-nan 
is  this  true. 

Reform  and  immovable  conservatism  go  hand 
in  hand.  Men  of  the  most  dissimilar  ambitions 
compose  the  corps  diplomatique,  and  are  willing  to 
join  hands  to  propagate  their  main  beliefs ;  and  when 
one  writes  of  progress — in  railways,  in  the  army, 
in  gaols,  in  schools,  in  public  works,  in  no  matter 

2IO 


YUN-NAN-FU,  THE    CAPITAL.  - 

what — one  is  ever  confronted  by  that  dogged  im- 
miitabiUty  which  characterises  the  older  school. 

So  that  in  writing  of  things  Yiin-nanese  in  this 
great  city  it  is  imperative  for  me  to  state  bare  facts 
as  they  stand  now,  and  make  little  comment.         ^ ^J 

THE     RAILWAY. 

The  Tonkin-Yiin-nan  Railway,  linking  the 
interior  with  the  coast,  is  one  of  the  world's  most 
interesting  engineering  romances.  This  artery  of 
steel  is  probably  the  most  expensive  railway  of  its 
kind,  from  the  constructional  standpoint.  In  some 
districts  seven  thousand  pounds  per  mile  was  the  cost, 
and  it  is  probable  that  six  thousand  pounds  sterling 
per  mile  would  not  be  a  bad  estimate  of  the  total 
amount  appropriated  for  the  construction  of  the  line 
from  a  loan  of  200,000,000  francs  asked  for  in  1898 
by  the  Colonial  Council  in  connection  with  the 
programme  for  a  network  of  railways  in  and  about 
French  Indo-China. 

To  Lao-kay  there  are  no  less  than  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  bridges. 

The  completion  of  this  line  realises  in  part  the 
ambition  of  a  celebrated  Frenchman,  who — once  a 
printer,  'tis  said,  in  Paris — dropped  into  the  political 
flower-bed,  and  blossomed  forth  in  due  course  as 
Governor-General  of  Indo-China.  When  Paul 
Doumer,  for  it  was  he,  went  east  in  1897,  he  felt 
it  his  mission  to  put  France,  politically  and  commer- 
cially, on  as  good  a  footing  as  any  of  her  rivals, 
notably  Great  Britain.  It  did  not  take  him  long  to 
see  that  the  best  missionaries  in  his  cause  would  be 
the  railways.  At  the  time  of  writing  (June,  1910) 
I  cannot  but  think  that  profit  on  this  railway  will  be 
a  long  time  coming,  and  there  are  some  in  the  capital 

211 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

who  doubt  whether  the  commercial  possibihties  of 
Yiin-nan  justified  this  huge  expenditure  on  railway 
construction.  Whilst  authorities  differ,  I  per- 
sonally believe  that  the  ultimate  financial  success  of 
the  venture  is  assured.  There  are  markets  crying 
out  to  be  quickly  fed  with  foreign  goods,  and  it  is 
my  opinion  that  the  French  will  be  the  suppliers  of 
those  goods.  British  enterprise  is  so  weak  that  we 
cannot  capture  the  greater  portion  of  the  growing 
foreign  trade,  and  must  feel  thankful  if  we  can  but 
retain  what  trade  we  have,  and  supply  those  exports 
with  which  the  French  have  no  possibihty  of 
competing.* 

THE    MILITARY, 

The  foreigner  in  Yiin-nan-fu  can  never  rest  unless 
he  is  used  to  the  sounds  of  the  bugle  and  the  hustling 
spirit  of  the  men  of  war. 

In  standard  works  on  Chinese  armaments  no  men- 
tion is  ever  made  of  the  Yiin-nan  army,  and  statistics 
are  hard  to  get.  But  it  is  evident  that  the  cult  of 
the  military  stands  paramount,  and  it  has  to  be 
conceded,  even  by  the  most  pessimistic  critics  of 
this  backward  province,  that  the  new  troops  are 
sufficiently  numerous  and  sufficiently  well-organised 
to  crush  any  rebellion.  This  must  be  counted  a  very 
fair  result,  since  it  has  been  attained  in  about  two 
years.  A  couple  of  years  ago  Yiin-nan  had 
practically  no  army — none  more  than  the  mihtary 
ragtags  of  the  old  school,  whose  chief  weapon  of  war 
was  the  opium  pipe.  But  now  there  are  ten  thousand 
troops — not  units  on  paper,  but  men  in  uniform — 
well-drilled    for    the    most   part    and   of    excellent 

*  For  a  general  description  of  the  line  and  other  data  see 
Appendix  E. 

212 


YiJN-NAN-FU,  THE    CAPITAL. 

physique,  who  could  take  the  field  at  once.  The 
question  of  the  Yiin-nan  army  is  one  of  international 
interest  :  the  French  are  on  the  south,  Great  Britain 
on  the  west. 

•On  June  2nd,  1909,  I  rode  out  to  the  magnificent 
training  ground,  then  being  completed,  and  on  that 
date  wrote  the  following  in  my  diary : — 

"  I  watched  for  an  hour  or  two  some  thousand 
or  so  men  undergoing  their  daily  drill — typical  tin 
soldiery  and  a  military  sham. 

"  Only  with  the  merest  notion  of  matters  military 
were  most  of  the  men  conversant,  and  alike  in 
ordinary  marching — when  it  was  most  difficult  for 
them  even  to  maintain  regularity  of  step — or  in 
more  complicated  drilling,  there  was  a  lack  of  the 
right  spirit,  no  go,  no  gusto — scores  and  scores  of 
them  running  round  doing  something,  going  through 
a  routine,  with  the  knowledge  that  when  it  was 
finished  they  would  get  their  rice  and  be  happy. 
Everyone  who  possesses  but  a  rudimentary  know- 
ledge of  the  Chinese  knows  that  he  troubles  most 
about  the  two  meals  every  day  should  bring  him, 
and  this  seems  to  be  the  pervading  line  of  thought 
of  seven-eighths  of  the  men  I  saw  on  the  padang  at 
drill.  Officers  strutting  about  in  peacock  fashion, 
with  a  sword  danghng  at  their  side,  showed  no 
incUnation  to  enforce  order,  and  the  rank  and  file 
knew  their  methods,  so  that  the  disorder  and 
haphazardness  of  the  whole  thing  was  absolutely 
mutual. 

"  Whilst  I  was  on  the  field  gazing  in  anything  but 
admiration  on  the  scene,  I  was  ordered  out  by  one  of 
the  khaki-clad  officers  in  a  most  unceremonious 
manner.  Seeing  me,  he  shouted  at  the  top  of  his 
thick   voice,    '  Ch'u-k'ii,    ch'u-k'ii  '    (an    expression 

213 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

meaning  '  Go  out  !  ' — commonly  used  to  drive  away 
dogs),  and  simultaneously  waved  his  sword  in  the 
air  as  if  to  say,  '  Another  step,  and  I  '11  have  your 
head.'  And,  of  course,  there  being  nothing  else  to 
do,  I  '  ch'u-k'iid,'  but  in  a  fashion  befitting  the 
dignity  of  an  English  traveller. 

"  The  reorganisation  of  the  army,  with  the  accelera- 
tion of  warlike  preparations,  has  the  advantage  that 
it  appeals  to  the  embryonic  feeling  of  national 
patriotism,  and  affords  a  tangible  expression  of  the 
desire  to  be  on  terms  of  equality  with  the  foreigner. 
That  officer  never  had  a  prouder  moment  in  his 
life  than  when  he  ordered  a  distinguished  foreigner 
from  the  drilling  ground,  of  which  he  was  for  the  time 
the  lordly  comptroller.  And  it  may  be  added  that 
the  foreigner  can  remember  no  occasion  when  he 
felt  *  smaller,'  or  more  completely  shrivelled. 

"  Whilst  it  is  safe  to  infer  that  the  motives  that 
underlie  the  significant  access  of  activity  in  military 
matters  in  Yiin-nan  differ  in  no  way  from  those 
which  have  led  to  the  feverish  increase  in  armaments 
in  other  parts  of  the  world,  such  ideas  that  have  yet 
been  formed  on  actual  preparations  for  possible 
war  are  most  crude.  On  paper  the  appointments  in 
the  army  and  the  accuracy  of  the  figures  of  the 
complement  of  rank  and  file  admit  of  no  question, 
but  the  practical  utility  of  their  labours  is  quite 
another  matter,  and  a  matter  which  does  not  appear 
to  produce  among  the  army  officials  any  great  mental 
disturbance  in  their  delusion  that  they  are  pro- 
gressing. Yiin-nan  is  in  need  of  military  reform, 
reform  which  will  embrace  a  start  from  the  very 
beginning,  and  one  of  the  first  steps  that  should 
be  taken  is  that  those  who  are  to  be  in  the  position 
of  administering  training  should  find  out  something 

214 


YUN-NAN-FU,  THE    CAPITAL. 

about  western  military  affairs,  and  so  be  in  a  position 
of  knowing  what  they  are  doing." 

The  above  was  my  conscientious  opinion  in  the 
middle  of  last  year.  Now — in  June  of  1910 — I 
have  to  write  of  enormous  improvements  and 
revolutions  in  the  drilling,  in  the  armaments,  in  the 
equipment,  in  the  general  organisation  of  the  troops 
and  the  conduct  of  them.  Yiin-nan  is  still  peculiarly 
in  her  transition  stage,  which,  while  it  has  many 
elements  of  strength  and  many  menacing  possi- 
bilities, contains,  more  or  less,  many  of  the  old 
weaknesses.  All  matters,  such  as  her  financial 
question,  her  tariff  question,  her  railway  question, 
her  mining  question,  are  still  "  in  the  air " 
— the  unknown  x  in  the  equation,  as  it  were — 
but  her  army  question  is  settled.  There  is  a  definite 
line  to  be  followed  here,  and  it  is  being  followed 
most  rigidly.  Come  what  will,  her  army  must 
be  safe  and  sound.  China  is  determined  to 
work  out  the  destiny  of  Yiin-nan  herself,  and  she 
is  working  hard — the  West  has  no  conception  how 
hard — so  as  to  be  able  to  be  in  the  position  of  safe- 
guarding— vigorously,  if  necessary — her  own  borders. 

One  question  arises  in  my  mind,  however.  Should 
there  be  a  rebellion,  would  the  soldiers  remain 
true  ?  This  is  vital  to  Yiin-nan.  Skirmishings  on 
the  French  border  more  or  less  recently  have  shown 
us  that  soldiers  are  wobblers  in  that  area.  The 
rank  and  file  are  chosen  from  the  common  people, 
and  one  would  not  be  surprised  to  find,  should 
trouble  take  place  fairly  soon,  while  they  are  still 
raw  to  their  business,  the  soldiers  turn  to  those  who 
could  give  them  most.  It  has  been  humorously 
remarked  that  in  case  of  disturbances  the  first  thing 
the  Chinese  Tommy  would  do  would  be  to  shoot  the 

215 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

officers  for  treating  him  so  badly  and  for  drilling  him 
so  hard  and  long. 

What  is  true  of  the  capital  in  respect  to  military 
progress  I  found  to  be  true  also  of  TaU-fu. 

A  couple  of  years  ago  a  company  of  drilled  soldiers 
arrived  there  as  a  nucleus  for  recruiting  units  for  the 
new  army.  Soon  1,500  men  were  enlisted.  They 
were  to  serve  a  three  years'  term,  were  to  receive 
four  dollars  per  month,  and  were  promised  good 
treatment.  The  officers  drilled  them  from  dawn  to 
dusk  ;  deserters  were  therefore  many,  necessitating 
the  detail  of  a  few  heads  coming  off  to  avert  the 
trouble  of  losing  all  the  men.  It  cost  the  men 
about  a  dollar  or  so  for  their  rice,  so  that  it  will  be 
readily  seen  that,  with  a  clear  profit  of  three  dollars 
as  a  monthly  allowance,  they  were  better  of^  than 
they  would  have  been  working  on  their  land. 
Officers  received  from  forty  to  sixty  taels  a  month. 
Temples  here  were  converted  into  barracks — a  sign 
in  itself  of  the  altered  conditions  of  the  times — and 
I  visited  some  extensive  buildings  which  were  being 
erected  at  a  cost  of  eighty  thousand  gold  dollars. 
>  Military  progress  in  this  "backward  province"  is 
as  great  as  it  has  been  anywhere  at  any  time  in  any 
part  of  the  Chinese  Empire.* 

THE   POLICE. 

Until  a  few  years  ago,  as  China  was  kept  in  law 
and  order  without  the  necessary  evil  of  a  standing 
army,  so  did  Yiin-nan-fu  slumber  on  in  the  Chinese 
equivalent  for  peace  and  plenty.  As  they  now  are, 
and  taking  into  consideration  that  they  were  all 
picked  from  the  rawest  material,  the  poHce  force 
of  this  capital  is  as  able  a  body  of  men  as  are  to  be 

*  For  further  observations  on  this  question  see  Appendix  F. 
216 


Entnince  to  Militaiy  Tvaimng  Ground  at   Yuit-itan-fit. 


i^ 


General  view  of  Yiln-nan-fii. 


<, 


a. 


:^; 


YUN-NAN-FU,  THE    CAPITAL. 

found  in  all  Western  China.  Probably  the  Metro- 
politan police  of  dear  old  London  could  not  be 
re-forced  from  their  ranks,  but  disciplined  and  well- 
ordered  they  certainly  are  withal.  Swords  seem  to 
take  the  place  of  the  English  bludgeon,  and  a  peaked 
cap,  beribboned  with  gold,  is  substituted  for  the  old- 
fashioned  helmet  of  blue  ;  and  if  the  time  should 
ever  come,  with  international  rights,  when  EngKsh- 
men  will  be  "  run  in  "  in  the  Empire,  the  sallow 
physiognomy  and  the  dangling  pigtail  alone  will  be 
unmistakable  proofs  to  the  victim,  even  in  heaviest 
intoxication,  that  he  is  not  being  handled  by  police- 
men of  his  own  kind — that  is,  if  the  Yiin-nan  police 
shall  ever  have  made  strides  towards  the  attainment 
of  home  police  principles.  However,  in  their  place 
these  men  have  done  good  work.  Thieving  in  the 
city  is  now  much  less  common,  and  gambling, 
although  still  rife  under  cover — when  will  the  Chinese 
eradicate  that  inherent  spirit  ? — is  certainly  being  put 
down.  One  of  the  features  of  their  work  also  has 
been  the  improvement  they  have  effected  in  the 
appearance  of  the  streets.  Old  customs  are  dying, 
and  at  the  present  time  if  a  man  in  his  untutored 
little  ways  throws  his  domestic  refuse  into  the  place 
where  the  gutter  should  have  been,  as  in  olden  days,, 
he  is  immediately  pounced  upon,  reprimanded  by 
the  policeman  on  duty,  and  fined  somewhat  stiffly. 

THE   GAOL. 

A  great  fuss  was  made  about  me  when  I  went  to 
visit  the  governor  of  the  prison  one  wet  morning. 
He  met  me  with  great  ostentation  at  the  entrance, 
escorting  me  through  a  clean  courtyard,  on  either 
side  of  which  were  pretty  flower-beds  and  plots  of 
green  turf,  to  a  reception-room.     There  was  nothing 

217 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

"  quadlike  "  about  the  place.  This  reception-room, 
furnished  on  a  semi-Occidental  plan,  overlooked 
the  main  prison  buildings,  contained  foreign  glass 
windows  draped  with  white  curtains,  was 
scrupulously  clean  for  China,  and  had  magnificent 
hanging  scrolls  on  the  whitewashed  walls.  Tea  was 
soon  brewed,  and  the  governor,  wishing  to  be  polite 
and  sociable,  told  me  that  he  had  been  in  Yiin-nan-fu 
for  a  few  months  only,  and  that  he  considered  himself 
an  extremely  fortunate  fellow  to  be  in  charge  of 
such  an  excellent  prison — one  of  the  finest  in  the 
kingdom,  he  assured  me. 

After  we  had  drunk  each  other's  health — I  sincerely 
trust  that  the  cute,  courteous  old  chap  will  live  a 
long  and  happy  hfe,  although  to  my  way  of  thinking 
the  knowledge  of  the  evil  deeds  of  all  the  criminals 
around  me  would  considerably  minimise  the 
measure  of  bliss  among  such  intensely  mundane 
things — I  was  led  away  to  the  prison  proper. 

This  gaol,  which  had  been  opened  only  a  few 
months,  is  a  remarkably  fine  building,  and  with  the 
various  workshops  and  outhouses  and  offices  covers 
from  seven  to  eight  acres  of  ground  inside  the  city. 
The  outside,  and  indeed  the  whole  place,  bears 
every  mark  of  Western  architecture,  with  a  trace 
here  and  there  of  the  Chinese  artistry,  and  for 
carved  stone  and  grey-washed  brick  might  easily 
be  mistaken  for  a  foreign  building.  It  cost  some 
ninety  thousand  taels  to  build,  and  has  accommoda- 
tion for  more  than  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners 
at  present  confined  within  its  walls. 

After  an  hour's  inspection,  I  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  lot  of  the  prisoners  was  cast  in  pleasant 
places.  The  food  was  being  prepared  at  the  time — 
three  kinds  of  vegetables,  with  a  liberal  quantity  of 

218 


YUN-NAN-FU,  THE    CAPITAL. 

rice,  much  better  than  nine-tenths  of  the  poor  brutes 
lived  on  before  they  came  to  gaol.  Besworded 
warders  guarded  the  entrances  to  the  various 
outbuildings.  From  twenty  to  thirty  poor  human 
beings  were  manacled  in  their  cells,  condemned  to  die, 
knowing  not  how  soon  the  pleasure  of  the  emperor 
may  permit  of  them  shuffling  off  this  mortal  coil : 
one  grey-haired  old  man  was  among  the  number, 
and  to  see  him  stolidly  waiting  for  his  doom  brought 
sad  thoughts. 

The  long-termed  prisoners  work,  of  course,  as 
they  do  in  all  prisons.  Weaving  cloth,  mostly 
for  the  use  of  the  military,  seemed  to  be  the 
most  important  industry,  there  being  over  a 
score  of  Chinese-made  weaving  machines  busily 
at  work.  The  task  set  each  man  is  twelve 
English  yards  per  day  ;  if  he  does  not  complete 
this  quantity  he  is  thrashed,  if  he  does  more  he  is 
remunerated  in  money.  One  was  amused  to  see  the 
English-made  machine  lying  covered  with  dust  in 
a  corner,  now  discarded,  but  from  its  pattern  all 
the  others  had  been  made  in  the  prison.  Tailors 
rose  as  one  man  when  we  entered  their  shop,  where 
Singer  machines  were  rattling  away  in  the  hands  of 
competent  men  ;  and  opposite  were  a  body  of  pewter 
workers,  some  of  their  products — turned  out  with 
most  primitive  tools — being  extremely  clever.  The 
authorities  had  bought  a  foreign  chair,  made  of  iron — 
a  sort  of  miniature  garden  seat — and  from  this 
pattern  a  squad  of  blacksmiths  were  turning  out 
facsimiles,  which  were  selling  at  two  dollars  apiece. 
They  were  well  made,  but  a  skilled  mechanic,  not 
himself  a  prisoner,  was  teaching  the  men.  Bamboo 
bhnds  were  being  made  in  the  same  room,  whilst  at 
the  extreme  end  of  another  shed  were  paper  dyers 

219 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

and  finishers,  carrying  on  a  primitive  work  in  the 
same  primitive  way  that  the  Chinese  did  thousands 
of  years  ago.  It  was,  however,  exceedingly  interesting 
to  watch. 

As  we  passed  along  I  smelt  a  strong  smell  of  opium. 
Yes,  it  was  opium.  I  sniffed  significantly,  and  looked 
suspiciously  around.  The  governor  saw  and  heard 
and  smelt,  but  he  said  nothing.  Opium,  then,  is 
not,  as  is  claimed,  abolished  in  Yiin-nan.  Worse 
than  this  :  whilst  I  was  the  other  day  calling  upon 
the  French  doctor  at  the  hospital,  the  vilest  fumes 
exuded  from  the  room  of  one  of  the  dressers.  It 
appeared  that  the  doctor  could  not  break  his  men  of 
the  habit.  But  we  remember  that  the  physician  of 
older  days  was  exhorted  to  heal  himself. 

Just  as  I  was  beginning  to  think  I  had  seen  all 
there  was  to  be  seen,  I  heard  a  scuffle,  and  saw  a  half- 
score  of  men  surrounding  a  poor  frightened  little 
fellow,  to  whom  I  was  introduced.  He  was  the 
little  bogus  Emperor  of  China,  the  Young  Pretender, 
to  whom  thousands  of  Yiin-nan  people,  at  the  time 
of  the  dual  decease  in  recent  Chinese  history,  did 
homage,  and  kotowed,  recognising  him  as  the  new 
emperor.  The  story,  not  generally  known  outside 
the  province,  makes  good  reading.  At  the  time  of 
the  death  of  the  emperor  and  empress-dowager, 
an  aboriginal  family  at  the  village  of  Kuang-hsi- 
chou,  in  the  south-east  of  Yiin-nan  province,  know- 
ing that  a  successor  to  the  throne  must  be  found, 
and  having  a  son  of  about  eight  years  of  age,  put 
this  boy  up  as  a  pretender  to  the  Chinese  throne, 
and  not  without  considerable  success.  The  news 
spread  that  the  new  emperor  was  at  the  above- 
named  village,  and  the  people  for  miles  around  flocked 
in  great  numbers  to  do  him  homage,  congratulating 

■220 


YUN-NAN-FU,  THE    CAPITAL. 

themselves  that  the  emperor  should  have  risen 
from  the  immediate  neighbourhood  in  which  they 
themselves  had  passed  a  monotonous  existence. 
For  weeks  this  pretence  to  the  throne  was  main- 
tained, until  a  miniature  rebellion  broke  out,  to  quell 
which  the  Viceroy  of  Yiin-nan  dispatched  with  all 
speed  a  strong  body  of  soldiers. 

Everybody  thought  that  the  loss  of  a  few  heads 
and  other  Chinese  trivialities  was  to  end  this 
little  flutter  of  the  people.  But  not  so.  The 
whole  of  the  family  who  had  promoted  this  ficti- 
tious claim  to  the  throne — father,  mother,  brothers, 
sisters — were  all  put  to  death,  most  of  them  in 
front  of  the  eyes  of  the  poor  little  fellow  who  was 
the  victim  of  their  idle  pretext.  The  military  re- 
turned, reporting  that  everything  was  now  quiet, 
and  a  few  days  later,  guarded  by  twenty  soldiers, 
came  this  young  pretender,  encaged  in  one  of  the 
prison  boxes,  breaking  his  heart  with  grief.  And  it 
was  he  who  was  now  conducted  to  meet  the  foreigner. 
He  has  been  confined  within  the  prison  since  he 
arrived  at  the  capital,  and  the  object  seems  to  be  to 
keep  him  there,  training  and  teaching  him  until  he 
shall  have  arrived  at  an  age  when  he  can  be  taught 
a  trade.  The  tiny  fellow  is  small  for  his  eight  years, 
and  his  httle  wizened  face,  sallow  and  delicate,  has  a 
plausible  tale  to  tell.  He  is  always  fretting  and 
grieving  for  those  whose  heads  were  shown  to  him 
after  decapitation.  However,  he  is  being  cared  for, 
and  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  authorities — or  even 
the  emperor  himself — will  mete  out  punishment  to 
him  when  he  grows  older.  He  did  nothing  ;  he 
knew  nothing.  At  the  present  time  he  is  going 
through  a  class-book  which  teaches  him  the  language 
to  be  used  in  audience  with  the  Son  of  Heaven — 


221 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT, 

he  will  probably  be  taken  before  the  emperor  when 
he  is  old  enough.  But  now  he  is  not  living  the  life 
of  a  boy — no  playmates,  no  toys,  no  romps  and 
froHcs.  He,  like  Topsy,  merely  grows — in  surround- 
ings which  only  a  dark  prison  life  can  give  him. 

This  was  the  first  time  I  had  even  been  in  prison 
in  China.  This  remark  rather  tickled  the  governor, 
and  on  taking  my  departure  he  assured  me  that  it 
was  an  honour  to  him,  which  the  Chinese  language 
was  too  poor  to  express,  that  I  should  have  allowed 
my  honourable  and  dignified  person  to  visit  his  mean 
and  contemptible  abode.  He  commenced  this  com- 
pliment to  me  as  he  was  showing  me  the  well-equipped 
hospital  in  connection  with  the  prison — containing 
eight  separate  wards  in  charge  of  a  Chinese  doctor. 

I  smiled  in  return  a  smile  of  deepest  gratitude,  and 
waving  a  fond  farewell,  left  him  in  a  happy  mood. 

THE    SCHOOLS. 

One  would  scarce  dream  of  a  university  for  the 
province  of  Yiin-nan.     Yet  such  is  the  case. 

In  former  days — and  it  is  true,  too,  to  a  great 
extent  to-day — the  prominent  place  given  to  educa- 
tion in  China  rendered  the  village  schools  an  object 
of  more  than  common  interest,  where  the  educated 
men  of  the  Empire  received  their  first  intellectual 
training.  Probably  in  no  other  country  was  there 
such  uniformity  in  the  standards  of  instruction. 
Every  educated  man  was  then  a  potential  school- 
master— this  was  certainly  true  of  Yiin-nan.  But  all 
is  now  changing,  as  the  infusion  of  the  spirit  of  the 
phrase  "  China  for  the  Chinese "  gains  forceful 
meaning  among  the  people. 

The  highest  hill  within  the  city  precincts  has  been 
chosen  as  the  site  for  a  university,  which  is  truly  a 

222 


YUN-NAN-FU,    THE    CAPITAL. 

remarkable  building  for  Western  China.  One  of  the 
students  of  the  late  Dr.  Mateer  (Shantung)  was  the 
architect — a  man  who  came  originally  to  the  school 
as  a  teacher  of  mathematics — and  it  cannot  be 
said  that  the  huge  oblong  building,  with  a  long 
narrow  wing  on  either  side  of  a  central  dome,  is 
the  acme  of  beauty  from  a  purely  architectural 
standpoint. 

Of  red-faced  brick,  this  university,  which  cost 
over  two  hundred  thousand  taels  to  build,  is  most 
imposing,  and  possesses  conveniences  and  improve- 
ments quite  comparable  to  the  ordinary  college  of 
the  West.  For  instance,  as  I  passed  through  the 
many  admirably-equipped  schoolrooms,  well  venti- 
lated and  airy,  I  saw  an  Italian  who  was  laying  in 
the  electric  light,*  the  power  for  which  was  generated 
by  an  immense  dynamo  at  the  basement,  and  upon 
which  alone  twenty  thousand  taels  were  spent. 
Thirty  professors  have  the  control  of  thirty-two  class- 
rooms, teaching  among  other  subjects  mathematics, 

*  Soon  afterwards  a  disturbance  occurred  among  the  students, 
and  had  it  not  been  for  the  promptitude  of  the  inspector,  some 
of  them  might  have  lost  their  heads. 

The  electric  light  had  just  been  laid  in,  and  was  working  so 
well  that  the  authorities  found  it  imperative  to  charge  each  of 
the  400  resident  students  one  dollar  per  month  for  the  upkeep. 
This  simple  edict  was  the  cause  of  the  riot.  In  a  body  the  boys 
rolled  up  their  pukais,  and  marched  down  to  the  main  entrance, 
declaring  that  they  were  determined  to  resign  if  the  order  was 
not  rescinded.  The  inspector,  however,  had  had  all  the  doors 
locked.  The  frenzied  students  broke  these  open,  and  incidentally 
thrashed  some  of  the  caretakers  for  interfering  in  matters  which 
were  not  considered  to  be  strictly  their  business. 

Subsequently  the  Chancellor  of  Education  visited  the  college 
in  person,  but  no  heed  was  paid  to  his  exhortations,  and  it  was 
only  when  the  dollar  charge  for  lighting  was  reduced  that  peace 
was   restored. 

The  Chancellor,  as  a  last  word,  told  them  that  if  they  vacated 
their  schoolrooms  a  fine  of  about  a  hundred  taels  would  be  im- 
posed upon  each  man. 

The  occasion  was  marked  by  all  the  foolish  ardour  one  finds 
among  college  boys  at  home,  and  it  seems  that,  despite  the  enor- 
mous amount  of  money  the  college  is  costing  to  run,  the  students 
are  somewhat  out  of  hand. — E.  J.  D. 

223 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

music,  languages  (chiefly  English  and  Japanese), 
geography,  chemistry,  astronomy,  geology,  botany, 
and  so  on.  The  museum,  situated  in  the 
centre  of  the  building,  does  not  contain  as  many 
specimens  as  one  would  imagine  quite  easily  obtain- 
able, but  there  are  certainly  some  capital  selections 
of  things  natural  to  this  part  of  the  Empire. 

The  authorities  probably  thought  I  was  rather  a 
queer  foreigner,  wanting  to  see  everything  there  was 
to  see  inside  the  official  barriers  in  the  city.  Day 
after  day  I  was  making  visits  to  places  where 
foreigners  seldom  have  entered,  and  I  do  not  doubt 
that  the  officials,  whilst  treating  me  with  the  utmost 
deference  and  extreme  punctiliousness,  thought  I 
was  a  sort  of  British  spy. 

When  I  went  to  the  Agricultural  School,  probably 
the  most  interesting  visit  I  made,  I  was  met  by  the 
Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs,  a  keen  fellow,  who 
spoke  English  well,  and  who,  having  been  trained  at 
Shanghai,  and  therefore  understanding  the  idiosyn- 
cracies  of  the  foreigner's  character,  was  invited  to 
entertain.  And  this  he  did,  but  he  was  careful  that 
he  did  not  give  away  much  information  regarding 
the  progress  that  the  Yiin-nanese,  essentially  sons 
of  the  soil,  are  making  in  agriculture.  For  this 
School  of  Agriculture  is  an  important  adjunct. 

Scholars  are  taken  on  an  agreement  for  three 
years,  during  which  time  they  are  fed  and  housed 
at  the  expense  of  the  school  ;  if  they  leave  during 
the  specified  period  they  are  fined  heavily.  No  less 
than  i8o  boys,  ranging  from  sixteen  to  twenty-three, 
are  being  trained  here,  with  about  120  paid  appren- 
tices. Three  Japanese  professors  are  employed — 
one  at  a  salary  of  two  hundred  dollars  a  month,  and 
two  others  at  three  hundred,  the  latter  having  charge 

224 


YUN-NAN-FU,  THE   CAPITAL. 

of  the  fruit  and  forest  trees  and  the  former  of 
vegetables. 

In  years  to  come  the  silk  industry  of  Yiin-nan  will 
rank  among  the  chief,  and  the  productions  will  rank 
among  the  best  of  all  the  eighteen  provinces.  There 
are  no  less  than  ten  thousand  mulberry  trees  in  the 
school  grounds  for  feeding  the  worms  ;  four  thousand 
catties  of  leaves  are  used  every  day  for  their  food  ; 
five  hundred  immense  trays  of  silkworms  are  con- 
stantly at  work  here.  The  worms  are  in  the  charge 
of  scholars,  whose  names  appear  on  the  various  racks 
under  their  charge,  and  the  fact  that  feeding  takes 
place  every  two  hours,  day  and  night,  is  sufficient 
testimony  that  the  boys  go  into  their  work  with 
commendable  energy.  As  I  was  being  escorted 
around  the  building,  through  shed  after  shed  filled 
with  these  trays  of  silkworms,  several  of  the  scholars 
made  up  a  sort  of  procession,  and  waited  for  the  eulogy 
that  I  freely  bestowed.  In  another  building  small  boys 
were  spinning  the  silk,  and  farther  down  the  weavers 
were  busy  with  their  primitive  machinery,  with  which, 
however,  they  were  turning  out  silk  that  could  be  sold 
in  London  at  a  very  big  price.  The  colourings  were 
specially  beautiful,  and  the  figuring  quite  good, 
although  the  head-master  of  the  school  told  me  that  he 
hoped  for  improvements  in  that  direction.  And  I, 
looking  wise,  although  knowing  little  about  silk  and  its 
manufacture,  heartily  agreed  with  the  little  fat  man. 

There  is  a  department  for  women  also,  and,  con- 
trary to  custom,  I  had  a  look  around  here  too.  The 
girls  were  particularly  smart  at  spinning. 

There  were  also  experimental  gardens.* 

*  For  further  matter  on  the  capital,  and  information  on  the 
international  position  of  the  British,  and  the  French  in  Yiin-nan, 
see  Appendices  G  and  H. 

225 

16 


SECOND    JOURNEY. 

YUN-NAN-FU     TO      TALI-FU 
(VIA    CH'U-HSIONG-FU). 

CHAPTER    XV. 

Stages  to  Tali-fu.  Worst  roads  yet  experienced.  Stampede 
among  ponies.  Hybrid  crowd  at  Anning-cheo.  Simplicity 
of  life  of  common  people.  Does  China  want  the  foreigner  ? 
Straits  Settlements  and  China  Proper  compared.  China's 
aspect  of  her  own  position.  Renaissance  of  Chinese  military 
power.  Europeans  not  ivanted  in  the  Empire.  Emptiness 
of  the  lives  of  the  common  people.  Author  erects  a  printing 
machine  in  Inland  China.  National  conceit.  Differences 
in  make-up  of  the  Hua  Miao  and  the  Han  Ren.  The  Hua 
Miao  and  what  they  are  doing.  Emancipation  of  their 
women.  Tribute  to  Protestant  missionaries.  Betrothal 
and  marriage  in  China.  Miao  ivomen  lead  a  life  of  shame 
and  misery.  Crude  ideas  among  Chinese  regarding  age  of 
foreigners.  Musty  man  and  dusty  traveller  at  Lao-ya-kwan. 
Intense  cold.  Salt  trade.  Parklike  scenery,  pleasant  travel, 
solitude. 

From  the  figures  of  heights  appearing  below,  one 
would  imagine  that  between  the  capital  and  Tali-fu 
hard  climbing  is  absent.  But  during  each  stage, 
with  the  exception  of  the  journey  from  Sei-tze  to 
Sha-chiao-kai,  there  is  considerable  fatiguing  uphill 
and  downhill  work,  each  evening  bringing  one  to 
approximately  the  same  level  as  that  from  which 
he  started  his  morning  tramp.  I  went  by  the 
following  route  : — 


ist    day — Anning-cheo    . 
2nd  day— Lao-3'a-kwan  . 

226 


,ength  of 
stage. 

Height 
above  sea. 

70  h    .  . 

,    6,300  ft. 

70  li    .  , 

,    6,800  ft. 

YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 


Length  of 
stage. 

3rd  day — Lu-feng-hsien  .  .     . .  75  li 

4th  day — Sei-tze     80  li 

5th  day — Kwang-tung-hsien . .  60  li 

7th  day — Ch'u-hsiong-fu        .  .  70  li 

8th  day — Liiho-kai 60  li 

9th  day — Sha-chiao-kai  .  .     . .  65  li 

loth  day — Pu-peng 90  li 

nth  day — Yiin-nan-i        . .      . .  65  li 

12th  day — Hungay 80  li 

14th  day — Chao-chow      . .      . .  60  li 

15th  day — Tali-fu     60  li 


Height 
above  sea. 

.  5,500  ft. 

.  6,100  ft. 

.  6,300  ft. 

.  6,150  ft. 

.  6,000  ft. 

.  6,400  ft. 

.  7,200  ft. 

.  6,800  ft. 

.  6,000  ft. 

.  6,750  ft. 

.  6,700  ft. 


A  long,  winding  and  physically-exhausting  road 
took  me  from  Sha-chiao-kai  to  Yin-wa-kwan,  the 
most  elevated  pass  between  Yiin-nan-fu  and  Tali-fu, 
and  continued  over  barren  mountains,  bereft  of 
shelter,  and  void  of  vegetation  and  people,  to  Pu- 
peng.  A  rough  climb  of  an  hour  and  a  half  then 
took  me  to  the  top  of  the  next  mountain,  where  roads 
and  ruts  followed  a  high  plateau  for  about  thirty  li, 
and  with  a  precipitous  descent  I  entered  the  plain  of 
Yiin-nan-i.  Then  over  and  between  barren  hills , 
passing  a  small  lake  and  plain  with  the  considerable 
town  of  Yiin-nan-hsien  ten  li  to  the  right,  I  continued 
in  a  narrow  valley  and  over  mountains  in  the  same 
uncultivated  condition  to  Hungay,  situated  in  a 
swampy  valley.  Having  crossed  this  valley,  another 
rough  climb  brings  the  traveller  to  the  top  of  the  next 
pass,  Tmg-chi-ling,  whence  the  road  descends,  and 
leads  by  a  well-cultivated  valley  to  Chao-chow.  After 
an  easy  thirty  li  we  reached  Hsiakwan,*  one  of  the 

*  Hsiakwan  would  be  supplied  by  a  branch  line  of  the  main 
railway  in  the  Kunlong  scheme  advocated  by  Major  H.  R. 
Davies,  leaving  at  Mi-tu,  to  the  south  of  Hungay. — E.  J.  D. 


227 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT.  • 

largest  commercial  cities  in  the  province,  lying  at 
the  foot  of  the  most  magnificent  mountain  range  in 
Yiin-nan,  and  by  the  side  of  the  most  famous  lake. 
A  paved  road  takes  one  in  to  his  destination  at  Tali- 
fu,  where  I  was  welcomed  by  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Clark,  of 
the  China  Inland  Mission,  and  hospitably  enter- 
tained for  a  couple  of  days. 

The  roads  in  general  from  Yiin-nan-fu  to  Tali-fu 
were  worse  than  any  I  have  met  from  Chung-king  on- 
wards, partly  owing  to  the  mountainous  condition  of 
the  country,  and  partly  to  neglect  of  maintenance. 

Where  the  road  is  paved,  it  is  in  most  places  worse 
than  if  it  had  not  been  paved  at  all,  as  neither  skill 
nor  common  sense  seems  to  have  been  exercised  in 
the  work.  It  is  probably  safe  to  say  that  there  are 
no  ancient  roads  in  Yiin-nan,  in  the  sense  of  the  con- 
structed highways  which  have  lasted  through  the 
■centuries,  for  the  civiHsation  of  the  early  Yiin-nanese 
was  not  equal  to  such  works.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  condition  of  the  roads  is  all  but  intolerable. 
Many  were  never  made,  and  are  seldom  mended — 
one  may  say  that  with  very  few  exceptions  they  are 
never  repaired,  except  when  utterly  impassable,  and 
then  in  the  most  make-shift  manner. 

My  highly-strung  Rusty  received  a  shock  to  his 
nervous  system  as  I  led  him  leisurely  from  the  incline 
leading  into  Anning-cheo  (6,300  feet),  through  the 
arched  gateway  in  a  pagoda-like  entrance,  which  when 
new  would  have  been  a  credit  to  any  city.  The  stones 
of  the  main  street  were  so  slippery  that  I  could  hardly 
keep  on  my  legs.  Frightened  by  one  of  their  number 
•dragging  its  empty  wooden  carrying  frame  along  the 
ground  behind  it,  a  drove  of  unruly  pack-ponies 
lashed  and  bucked  and  tossed  themselves  out  of  order, 
and  an  instant  afterwards  came  helter-skelter  towards 


22J 


-«^ 


'o 


■s^ 


-Ih 


CO 


A  village  gathering  in  Yiin-nan. 
The  cabbage  seen  over  the  heads  of  the  people  is  hung  up  to  dry  prior  to  pickling. 


.^^:X^      .iWf  '  ">  ''  "     •" 


Entrance  to  a  Government  school  in  \\'c-.Uin  China. 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO    TALI-FU. 

my  ten-inch  pathway  by  the  side  of  the  road. 
All  of  my  men  caught  the  panic,  and  in  their  mad  rush 
several  were  knocked  down  and  trampled  upon  by 
the  torrent  of  frightened  creatures.  I  thought  I  was 
being  charged  by  cavalry,  but  beyond  a  good  deal  of 
bruising  I  escaped  unhurt.  Closer  and  closer  came 
the  hubbub  and  the  din  of  the  town — the  market 
was  not  yet  over.  As  I  approached  the  big  street, 
throngs  of  blue-cottoned  yokels,  quite  out  of  hand, 
created  a  nerve-racking  uproar,  as  they  thriftily 
drove  their  bargains.  I  shrugged  my  shoulders, 
gazed  long  and  earnestly  at  the  motley  mob,  and 
putting  on  a  bold  front,  pushed  through  in  a  care- 
less manner.  Ponies  with  salt  came  in  from  the 
other  end  of  the  town,  and  in  their  waddling  the 
little  brutes  gave  me  more  knocks. 

It  was  an  awful  crowd — Chinese,  Minchia,  Lolo, 
and  other  specimens  of  hybridism  unknown  to  me. 
Yet  I  suppose  the  majority  of  them  may  be  called 
happy.  Certainly  the  simplicity  of  the  life  of  the 
common  people,  their  freedom  from  fastidious  tastes, 
which  are  only  a  fetter  in  our  own  Western  social  life, 
their  absolute  independence  of  furniture  in  their 
homes,  their  few  wants  and  perhaps  fewer  necessities, 
when  contrasted  with  the  demands  of  the  English- 
man, is  to  them  a  state  of  high  civilisation.  Here 
were  farmers,  mechanics,  shopkeepers,  and  retired 
people  Jiving  a  simple,  unsophisticated  life.  All  the 
strength  of  the  world  and  all  its  beauties,  all  true 
joy,  everything  that  consoles,  that  feeds  hope,  or 
throws  a  ray  of  light  along  our  dark  paths,  every- 
thing that  enables  us  to  discern  across  our  poor  Hves  a 
splendid  goal  and  a  boundless  future,  comes  to  us  from 
true  simplicity.  I  do  not  say  that  we  get  all  this 
from  the  Chinese,  but  in  many  ways  they  can  teach 

229 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

us  how  to  live  in  the  spirit  of  simplicity.      They 

were  hving  from  hand  to  mouth,  with  seemingly  no 

anxieties    at    all — and   yet,    too,    they   were   living 

iwithout  God,  and  with  very  little  hope. 

X^  And  here  the  foreigner  reappeared  to  disturb  them. 

'  Even  in  Anning-cheo,  only  a  day  from  the  capital,  I 

was  regarded  as  a  being  of  another  species,  and  was 

treated  with  little  respect.     I  was  not  wanted. 

No  international  question  has  become  more  hack- 
neyed than  "  Does  China  want  the  foreigner  ?  " 
Columns  of  utter  nonsense  have  from  time  to  time 
been  printed  in  the  Enghsh  press,  purporting  to  have 
come  from  men  supposed  to  know,  to  the  effect  that 
this  Empire  is  crying  out,  waiting  with  open  arms  to 
welcome  the  European  and  the  American  with  all  his 
advanced  methods  of  Christendom  and  civilisation. 
It  has  by  general  assent  come  to  be  understood  that 
China  does  want  the  foreigner.  But  those  who  know 
the  Chinese,  and  who  have  Hved  with  them,  and  know 
their  inherent  insincerity  in  all  that  they  do,  still 
wonder  on,  and  still  ask,  "  Does  she  ?  " 

To  the  European  in  Hong-Kong,  or  any  of  the  China 
ports,  having  trustworthy  Chinese  on  his  commercial 
staff — without  whom  few  businesses  in  the  Far  East 
can  make  progress — my  argument  may  seem  to  have 
no  raison  d'etre.  He  will  be  inchned  to  blurt  out 
vehemently  the  absurdity  of  the  idea  that  the  Chinese 
do  not  want  the  foreigner.  First,  they  cannot  do 
without  him  if  China  is  to  come  into  line  as  a  great 
nation  among  Eastern  and  Western  powers.  And 
then,  again,  could  anyone  doubt  the  sincerity  of  the 
desire  on  the  part  of  the  Celestial  for  closer  and 
downright  friendly  intercourse  if  he  has  had  nothing 
more  than  mere  superficial  dealings  with  them  ? 

Thus   thought   the  ^vriter  at   one  time  in  his  life. 

230 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO   TALI-FU. 

He  has  had  in  a  large  commercial  firm  some  of  the 
best  Chinese  assistants  living,  in  China  or  out  of  it, 
and  has  nothing  but  praise  for  their  assiduous  perse- 
verance and  remarkable  business  acumen  and 
integrity. 

As  a  business  man,  I  admire  them  far  and  away 
above  any  other  race  of  people  in  the  East  and  Far 
East.  Is  there  any  business  man  in  the  Straits 
Settlements  who  has  not  the  same  opinion  of  the 
Straits-born  Chinese  ?  But  as  one  who  has  travelled 
in  China,  living  among  the  Chinese  and  with  them, 
seeing  them  under  all  natural  conditions,  at  home  in 
their  own  country,  I  say  unhesitatingly  that  at  the 
present  time  only  an  infinitesimal  percentage  of  the 
population  of  the  vast  Interior  entertain  genuine 
respect  for  the  white  man,  and,  in  centres  where 
Western  influence  has  done  so  much  to  break  down 
the  old-time  hatred  towards  us,  the  real,  unveneered 
attitude  of  the  ordinary  Chinese  is  one  not  calculated 
to  foster  between  the  Occident  and  the  Orient  the 
brotherhood  of  man.  Difficult  is  it  for  the  foreigner 
in  civilised  parts  of  China — and  impossible  for  the 
great  preponderance  of  the  European  peoples  at 
home — to  grasp  the  fact  that  in  huge  tracts  of  Interior 
China  the  populace  have  never  seen  a  foreigner,  save 
for  the  ubiquitous  missionary,  who  takes  on  more 
often  than  not  the  dress  of  the  native. 

Although  the  Chinese  Government  recognises  the 
dangerous  situation  of  the  nation  vis-a-vis  with 
nations  of  Europe,  and  har  ratified  one  treaty  after 
another  with  us,  the  nation  itself  does  not,  so  far  as 
the  traveller  can  see,  appreciate  the  fact  that  she 
cannot  possibly  resist  the  white  man,  and  hold  her- 
self in  seclusion  as  formerly  from  the  Western  world. 
China    is     discovering — has     discovered     officially, 

231 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

although  that  does  not  necessarily  mean  nationally 
— as  Japan  did  so  admirably  when  her  progress  was 
most  marked,  that  steam  and  machinery  have  made 
the  world  too  small  for  any  part  thereof  to  separate 
^tself  entirely  from  the  broadening  current  of  the 
world's  life. 

Whilst  not  for  a  moment  failing  to  admire  the 
aggressive  character  of  Occidentals,  and  the  resultant 
necessity  of  thwarting  them — we  see  this  especially 
in  official  circles  in  Yiin-nan — Chinese  leaders  of 
thought  and  activity  are  recognising  that  in  inter- 
national relations  the  final  appeal  can  only  be  to  a 
superior  power,  and  that  power,  to  be  superior,  must 
be  thorough,  and  thorough  throughout.  So  different 
to  what  has  held  good  in  China  for  countless  ages. 
That  is  why  China  is  making  sure  of  her  army,  and 
why  she  will  have  ready  in  1912 — ten  years  before 
the  period  originally  intended — no  less  than  thirty- 
six  divisions,  each  division  formed  of  ten  thousand 
units.*  China  is  now  endeavouring  to  walk  the 
ground  which  led  Japan  to  greatness  among  the 
nations — she  takes  Japan  as  her  pattern,  and  thinks 
that  what  Japan  has  done  she  can  do — and,  officially 
abandoning  her  long  course  of  self-sufficient  isolation, 

*  A  most  important  factor  in  the  altering  circumstances  is 
the  renaissance  of  the  Chinese  military  power.  Japanese  in- 
structors swarm  in  China,  and  are  swiftly  building  up  a  mighty 
military  engine  as  their  ally.  The  original  plan  of  the  Chinese 
Government  was  to  form  thirty-six  divisions,  each  of  ten  thousand 
men,  and  to  have  this  entire  force  ready  to  take  the  field  before 
the  year  1922,  but  it  is  perfectly  evident  from  the  reports  which 
have  filtered  through  to  Europe,  that  this  huge  army  will  be 
ready  by  1912,  or  ten  years  earlier  than  was  originally  intended. 
The  Review  of  Reiiews  for  January,  19 10,  in  referring  to  an 
article  written  by  General  von  der  Boeck,  one  of  Germany's  most 
brilliant  infantry  commanders,  says  ;  "  The  General  is  inclined 
to  believe  that  in  19 12  China  will  possess  a  well-equipped  army 
of  half  a  million  men,  the  greater  part  armed  with  modern 
weapons,  and  with  a  discipline  and  organisation  infinitely 
superior  to  anything  which  China  has  yet  produced." — E.  J.  D. 

232 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

is  plunging  into  the  flood  of  international  progress^ 
determined  to  acquire  all  the  knowledge  she  can^ 
and  thus  win  for  herself  a  place  among  the  Powers. 

But  I  am  in  Yiin-nan,  and  things  move  slowly  here. 

All  this  does  not  mean  that  my  presence  is  desired,. 
or  that  fear  of  me,  the  foreigner,  has  ceased.  On 
the  contrary,  it  signifies  that  I  am  more  greatly  to  be 
feared.  The  European  is  not  wanted  in  China,  no- 
matter  how  absurd  it  may  seem  to  the  student 
of  international  politics,  who  sits  and  devours  all 
the  newspaper  copy — good,  bad  and  indifferent — 
which  filters  through  regarding  China  becoming" 
the  El  Dorado  of  the  Westerner.  He  is  wanted  for 
no  other  reason  than  that  of  teaching  the  Chinese 
to  foreignise  as  much  as  he  can,  teaching  the  leaders 
of  the  people  to  strive  to  modify  national  life,  and 
to  raise  pubHc  conduct  and  administration  to  the- 
best  standards  of  the  West. 

When  China  is  capable  of  looking  after  herself, 
and  able  to  maintain  the  position  she  is  securing  by 
the  aid  of  the  foreigner  in  her  provinces,  following  her 
present  mode  of  thought  and  action,  the  foreigner 
may  go  back  again.  But  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
evolution  of  the  country  will  be  different. 

Another  feature  impressed  upon  me  was  the 
emptiness  of  the  lives  of  the  people.  Education  was 
rare,  and  any  education  they  had  was  confined  to 
the  Chinese  classics. 

Neither  of  the  three  men  I  had  with  me  could  read 
or  write.  The  thoughts  of  these  people  are  circum- 
scribed by  the  narrow  world  in  which  they  live,  and 
only  a  chance  traveller  such  as  myself  allows  them  a 
glimpse  of  other  places.  Each  man,  with  rare 
exception,  lives  and  labours  and  dies  where  he  is. 
born — that  is  his  ambition  :  and  in  the  midst  of  a 


233 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

people  whose  whole  outlook  of  life  is  so  contracted, 
I  find  difficulty  in  believing  that  progress  such  as 
Japan  made  in  her  memorable  fifty-year  forward 
movement  will  be  made  by  the  Chinese  of  Yiin-nan 
in  two  hundred  years.  Everything  one  can  see 
around  him  here,  at  this  town  of  Anning-cheo, 
seems  to  make  against  it.  In  my  deahngs  with 
Chinese  in  their  own  country — I  speak  broadly — 
I  have  found  that  he  "  knows  everything."  I 
erected  a  printing-press  in  Tong-ch'uan-fu  some 
months  ago — a  type  of  the  old  flat  handpress  not 
unlike  that  first  used  by  Caxton.  It  was  a  part  of 
the  equipment  of  the  Ai  Kueh  Hsieh  Tang  (Love  of 
Country  School),  and  I  was  invited  by  the  gentry  to 
•erect  it.  Now  the  thing  had  not  been  up  an  hour 
before  all  the  old  fossils  in  the  place  knew  all  about  it. 
Printing  to  them  was  easy — a  child  could  do  it. 
It  is  always,  "O  ren  teh,  o  ren  teh  "  ("I  know, 
I  know  ").  These  men,  dressed  in  their  best,  stood 
with  their  arms  behind  them,  and  smiled  stupidly 
as  I  laboured  with  my  coat  off  fixing  their  primitive 
machinery.  Yet  they  did  not  know,  and  now, 
Mdthin  a  few  months,  not  a  sheet  has  been  printed, 
and  the  whole  plant  is  going  to  rack  and  ruin. 

This  is  the  difference  between  the  Chinese  and  the 
tribespeople  of  Yiin-nan.  Here  we  see  the  good  of 
the  missionary  again,  quite  apart  from  any  religious 
basis.  The  tribesman  comes  and  lays  himself  at  the  feet 
■of  the  missionary,  and  says  at  once,  "  I  do  not  know. 
Tell  me,  and  I  will  follow  you.  I  want  to  learn." 
That  is  why  it  is  that  the  Chinese  stand  open-eyed 
and  open-mouthed  when  they  see  the  Miao  making 
strides  altogether  impossible  to  themselves,  in 
proportion  to  their  standard  of  civiUsation,  and  this 
position    of    things    will    not    be    altered,    unless 

234 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

they  cease  to  deceive  themselves.  I  have  seen  a 
Miao  boy  of  nine  who  never  in  his  Ufe  had  seen  a 
Chinese  character,  who  did  not  know  that  school 
existed,  and  whose  only  tutoring  depended  on  the 
week's  visit  of  the  missionary  twice  a  year.  I  have 
s^n  this  youngster  read  off  a  sheet  of  Chinese 
characters  no  Chinese  boy  of  his  age  in  the  whole 
city  would  succeed  in.  I  have  not  been  brought  into 
contact  with  any  other  tribe  as  I  have  with  the 
Hua  Miao.* 

But  if  the  progress  this  once-despised  people  are 
making  is  maintained,  the  Yiin-nanese  will  very 
soon  be  left  behind  in  the  matter  of  practical  scholar- 
ship. These  Miao  live  the  simplest  of  simple  Hves, 
but  they  wish  to  become  better — to  live  purer  lives, 
to  become  civilised,  to  be  upHfted;  and  therefore 
they  are  most  humble,  most  approachable,  and  are 
slowly  evolving  into  a  happy  position  of  proud 
independence.  Education  among  the  Hua  Miao 
is  not  lost  :  among  the  Chinese  much  of  the  labour 
put  forward  in  endeavours  to  educate  them  is  lost, 
or  seems  to  bear  no  immediate  fruit.  The  ]\Iiao 
are  living  by  confidence  and  hope  that  turns  towards 
the  future ;  the  Yiin-nanese  are  content  with  their 
confidence  in  the  past.  The  Miao,  however,  were 
not  like  this  always — but  a  few  years  ago  they  were 
not  heard  of  outside  China. 

The  coming  emancipation  of  their  women,  demands 
some  attention.  The  few  Europeans  who  have  lived 
among  the  multitudes  in  Central  China  would  not 
associate  beds  of  roses  with  the  lives  of  the  women 
anywhere. 

*  In  many  parts  of  China  at  the  present  clay  many  Chinese 
imagine  that  the  Miao  tribes  are  monkeys,  and  that  they  liave 
tails  in  the  natural  order  of  things.  (For  other  information  see 
Chapters  IX  and  X.) 

235 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

The  daughter  is  seldom  happy,  and  unless  the  wife 

present  her  husband  with  sons,  who  will  perpetuate  the 

father's  name  and  bum  incense  at  his  tablet  after  his 

death,  her  hfe  is  more  often  than  not  made  absolutely 

unbearable  —  a   fact   responsible   for  the  numerous 

suicides  more  than  any  other  one  thing.     She  is  the 

drudge,   the  slave  of  the  man.     And  the   popular 

belief  is  that  all  the  women  of  the  Middle  Kingdom 

are  essentially  Chinese  ;    but  little  is  heard  of  the 

tribespeople — more  numerous  probably  than  in  any 

other  given  area  in  all  the  world — whose  womankind 

are  as  far  removed  from  the  Chinese  in  language, 

habits  and  customs  as  English  ladies  of  to-day  are 

removed  from  Grecians.     A  decade  or  so  ago  no  one 

heard  of  the  Miao  women  :    they  were  the  lowest  of 

the  low,  having  no    status.     They    were    far    worse 

off  than  their  Chinese  sisters,  who,  no  matter  what 

they  had  to  endure  after  marriage,  were  certainly 

safeguarded  by  law  and  etiquette  allowing  them  ta 

enter  the  married    state   with    respectability ;   but 

no  social  laws,  no  social  ties  protect  the  Miao  women. 

Until  a  few  years  ago  their  "  club  "  was  a  common 

brothel,    too    horrible    to    describe    in    the    English 

language.     As  soon  as  a  girl  gave  birth  to  her  first 

child  she  came  down  on  the  father  to  keep  her.     In 

many  cases,  it  is  only  fair  to  say,  they  lived  together 

faithfully  as  man  and  wife,  although  such  cases  were 

not    by    any    means    in    the    majority.     The    poor 

creatures  herded  together  in  their  unspeakable  vice 

and  infamy,  with  no  shame  or  common  modesty, 

fighting  for  the  wherewithal  to  live,   and  only  by 

chance   living   regularly  with   one   man,    and    then 

only  just  so  long  as  he  wished.     Little  girls   of  ten 

and    over   regularly    attended    these    awful  hovels^ 

and  children  grew  out  of  their  childhood  with  no 

236 


Funeral  scene  in  Western  Lhiiui. 


Stopping-place  for  horse  caravans. 


■  rrrrr 
rrrrr 
rrrrrrr 
rrrrrrn 


cq 


O 


o 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO   TALI-FU. 

other  vision  than  that  of  entering  into  the  disgraceful 
life  as  early  as  Nature  would  allow  them.  It  meant 
little  less  than  that  practically  the  whole  of  the 
population  was  illegitimate,  viewed  from  a  Western 
standpoint.  No  such  thing  as  marriage  existed. 
Men  and  women  cohabited  in  this  horrible  orgy  of 
existence,  with  the  result  that  murder,  disease  and 
pestilence  were  rife  among  them.  It  was  only  a 
battle  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  to  pursue  so 
terrible  a  life.  Nearly  all  the  people  were  diseased 
by  the  transgression  of  Nature's  laws. 

After  a  time,  however,  through  the  instrumentaUty 
of  Protestant  missionaries,  these  wretched  people 
began  to  see  the  light  of  civihsation.  Gradually, 
and  of  their  own  free  will,  the  girls  gave  up  their 
accursed  dens  of  misery  and  shame,  and  the  men 
lived  more  in  accord  with  social  law  and  order. 

The  Miao,  too,  had  hitherto  been  dependent  for 
their  literature  upon  the  Chinese  character,  which 
only  a  few  could  understand.  Soon  they  had 
literature  in  their  own  language,*  and  a  great  social 
reform  set  in.  They  showed  a  desire  for  Western 
learning  such  as  has  seldom  been  seen  among  any 
people  in  China — these  were  people  lowest  down  in 
the  social  scale  ;  and  now  the  latest  phase  is  the 
vestablishment  of  betrothal  and  marriage  laws, 
calculated  to  revolutionise  the  community  and  to 
introduce  what  in  China  is  the  equivalent  for  home  life. 

Betrothal  among  the  Chinese  is  a  matter  with 
which  the  parties  most  deeply  concerned  have  little 
to  do.  Their  parents  engage  a  go-between  or 
match-maker,  and  another  point  is  that  there  is  no 

*  The  written  language  was  framed  and  instituted  by  the  Rev. 
Sam.  Pollard,  of  the  Bible  Christian  Mission  (now  merged  into 
the  United  Methodist  Mission). — E.  J.D. 


237 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

age  limit.  Not  so  now  with  the  Christian  Miao.  No 
paid  go-between  is  engaged,  and  brides  are  to  be  at 
a  minimum  age  of  eighteen  years,  and  bridegrooms 
twenty.  The  estabhshment  of  these  laws  will,  it  is 
hoped,  make  for  the  emancipation  from  a  life  of  the 
most  dreadful  misery  of  thousands  of  women  in  one 
of  the  darkest  countries  of  the  earth.* 

But  now  the  Miao  is  pressing  forward  under  his 
burdens,  to  guide  himself  in  the  struggle,  to  retrieve 
his  falls  and  his  failures ;  and  in  the  future  lies  his 
hope — the  indomitable  hope  upon  which  the  interest 
of  humanity  is  based — and  he  has  in  addition  the 
grand  expectation  of  escaping  despair  even  in  death. 
It  is  all  the  praiseworthy  work  of  our  fellow-country- 
men, living  isolated  lives  among  the  people,  building 
up  a  worthy  Christian  structure  upon  Miao  simplicit 
and  humble  fidelity  to  the  foreigner. 

But  I  digress  from  my  travel. 

Little  out  of  the  ordinary  marked  my  travels  to 
Lao-ya-kwan  (6,800  feet),  an  easy  stage.  My  meagre 
tiffin  at  an  insignificant  mountain  village  was,  as 
usual,  an  educational  lesson  to  the  natives.  Each 
tin  that  came  from  my  food  basket — one's  servant 
delighted  to  lay  out  the  whole  business — underwent 
the  severest  criticism  tempered  with  unmeaning 
eulogy,  picked  up  and  put  down  by  perhaps  a  score 
of  people,  who  did  not  mean  to  be  rude.  When  I 
used  their  chopsticks — dirty  little  pieces  of  bamboo — 
in  a  manner  very  far  removed  from  their  natural 
method,  they  were  proud  of  me.  Outrageously 
panegyric  references  were  made  when  an  old  man, 
scratching  at  his  disagreeable  itch-sores  under  my 

*  The  marriage  laws  were  instituted  by  the  China  Inland 
Mission  at  Sa-pu-shan,  where  a  great  work  is  being  done  among 
the  Hua  Miao.  A  good  many  more  stipulations  are  embodied 
in  the  excellent  rules,  but  I  have  no  room  here  to  detail. — E.  J.  D. 

238 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

nose,  clipped  a  youngster's  ear  for  hazarding  my  age 
to  be  less  than  that  of  any  of  the  bystanders,  the 
length  of  my  moustache  and  a  three-day  growth  on 
my  chin  giving  them  the  opinion  that  I  was  certainly 
over  sixty.* 

I  entered  Lao-ya-kwan  under  an  inauspicious  star. 
No  accommodation  was  to  be  had,  all  the  inns  were 
literally  overrun  with  sedan  chairs  and  filled  with 
well-dressed  officials,  already  busy  with  the  "hsi-lien" 
(wash  basin).  In  my  dirty  khaki  clothes,  out  at  knee 
and  elbow,  looking  musty  and  mean  and  dusty,  with 
my  topee  botched  and  battered,  I  presented  a  most 
unhappy  contrast  as  I  led  my  pony  down  the  street 
under  the  sarcastic  stare  of  bystanding  scrutineers. 
The  nights  were  cold,  and  in  the  private  nouse 
where  I  stayed,  mercifully  overlooked  by  a  trio 
of  protesting  efhgies  with  visages  grotesque  and 
gruesome,  rats  ran  fearlessly  over  the  room's  mud 
floor,  and  at  night  I  buried  my  head  in  my  rugs  to 
prevent  total  disappearance  of  my  ears  by  nibbling. 
Not  so  my  men.  They  slept  a  few  feet  from  me, 
three  on  one  bench,  two  on  another.  Bedding  was 
not  to  be  had,  and  so  among  the  dirty  straw  they 
huddled  together  as  closely  as  possible  to  preserve 
what  bodily  heat  they  had.  Snow  fell  heavily.  In 
the  early  morning  sunlight  on  January  13th  the 
undulating  valley,  with  its  grand  untrodden  carpet 
of  white,  looked  magnificently  beautiful  as  I  picked 

*  The  Chinese  have  the  crudest  ideas  of  the  age  of  foreigners. 
Among  themselves  the  general  custom  is  for  a  man  to  shave  his 
upper  lip  so  long  as  his  father  is  alive,  so  that  in  the  ordinary 
course  a  man  wearing  a  moustache  is  looked  upon  as  an  old 
man.  In  Tong-ch'uan-fu  the  rumour  got  abroad  that  three  "  uei 
kiieh  ren  "  ("  foreign  men  ")  went  riding  horses — two  young  ones 
and  one  old  one.  The  "  old  one  "  was  myself,  because  I  had 
hair  on  my  top  lip,  despite  the  fact  that  I  was  considerably  the 
junior.  And  the  fact  that  one  was  a  lady  was  not  deemed 
worthy  of  the  slightest  consideration. — E,  J.  D. 

239 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

out  the  road  shown  me  by  a  poor  fellow  whose  ears 
had  got  frost-nipped. 

No  easy  work  was  it  chmbing  tediously  up  the 
narrow  footway  in  a  sharp  spur  rising  some  i.ooo 
feet  in  a  ribbed  ascent,  overlooking  a  fearful  drop. 
Over  to  the  left  I  saw  an  unhappy  little  urchin, 
hardly  a  rag  covering  his  shivering,  bleeding  body, 
grovelling  piteously  in  the  snow,  while  his  blind  and 
goitrous  mother  did  her  best  at  gathering  firewood 
^vith  a  hatchet.  The  pass  leading  over  this  range, 
through  which  the  white  crystalline  flakes  were 
driven  wildly  in  one's  face,  was  a  half-moon  of 
smooth  rock  actually  worn  away  by  the  endless 
tramping  of  myriads  of  pack-ponies,  who  then  were 
plodding  through  ruts  of  steps  almost  as  high  as 
their  haunches. 

A  man  with  a  diseased  hip  joined  me  thirty  li 
farther  on,  dismounting  from  his  pile  of  earthly 
belongings  which  these  men  fix  on  the  backs  of  their 
ponies.  It  is  a  creditable  trapeze  act  to  effect  a 
mount  after  the  pony  is  ready  for  the  journey.  He 
had,  he  said,  met  me  before.  He  knew  that  I  was  a 
missionary,  and  had  heard  me  preach.  He  remem- 
bered my  wife  and  myself  and  children  passing  the 
night  in  the  same  inn  in  which  he  stayed  on  one  of 
his  pilgrimages  from  his  native  town  somewhere  to 
the  east  of  the  province.  I  had  never  seen  him 
before  ;  I  had  no  wife  ;  I  have  never  preached  a 
sermon  in  my  life.  I  should  be  pained  ever  again  to 
have  to  suffer  his  unmannerly  presence  anywhere. 

Ponies  were  being  loaded  near  my  table.  The 
rapscallion  in  question  explained  that  the  black  blocks 
were  salt,  taking  a  pinch  from  my  salt-ceUar  with  his 
grimy  fingers  to  add  point  to  his  remarks.  I  kicked 
at  a  couple  of  mongrels  under  the  rude  form  on 

240 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO    TALI-FU. 

which  I  sat,  fighting  for  the  skin  of  one  of  those 
potato-like  pears  which  grow  here  so  proHfically. 
The  person  announced  that  they  were  dogs,  and 
that  an  idiosyncrasy  of  Chinese  dogs  was  to  fight. 
Several  wags  joined  in,  and  all  appeared,  through 
the  travelling  nincompoop,  to  know  all  about  my 
past  and  present,  lapsing  into  a  desultory  harangue 
upon  all  men  and  things  foreign.  The  street  re- 
minded me  of  Clovelly — rugged  and  ragged — and  the 
people  were  wrinkled  and  wretched  ;  and,  indeed, 
being  a  Devonian  myself  by  birth,  I  should  be 
excused  of  wantonly  intending  to  hurt  the  delicate 
feelings  of  the  lusty  sons  of  Devon  were  I  to  declare 
that  I  thought  the  hfe  not  of  a  very  terrible  dis- 
similarity from  that  port  of  antiquity  in  the  West. 

Salt  was  everywhere,  much  more  like  coal  than 
salt,  certainly  as  black.  The  blocks  were  stacked 
up  by  the  sides  of  inns  ready  for  transport,  carried 
on  the  backs  of  a  multitude  of  poor  wretches  who 
work  like  oxen  from  dawn  to  dusk  for  the  merest 
pittance,  on  the  backs  of  droves  and  droves  of 
ponies,  scrambling  and  spluttering  along  over  the 
slippery  once-paved  streets. 

All  day  long,  with  the  exception  of  two  or  three, 
easy  ascents,  we  were  travelling  in  pleasantly  un= 
dulating  country  of  park-like  magnificence.  My 
men  dalUed.  I  tramped  on  alone ;  and  sitting 
down  to  rest  on  the  rocks,  I  realised  that  I  was  in 
one  of  the  strangest,  loneliest,  wildest  corners  of  the 
world.  Great  mountain-peaks  towered  around  me, 
white  and  sparkling  diadems  of  wondrous  beauty, 
and  at  my  feet,  black  and  stirless,  lay  a  silent  pool, 
reflecting  the  weird  shadows  of  my  coolies  flitting 
like  spectres  among  the  jagged  rocks  of  these  most 
solitary  hills. 

241 
17 


u.' 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

Lu-fcng-hsien  and  its  bridge.  Magnificence  of  mountains 
towards  the  capital.  Opportunity  for  Dublin  Fusiliers. 
Characteristic  climbing.  Crockery  crash  and  its  sequel. 
Mountain  forest.  Changeableness  of  climate.  Wayside 
scene  and  some  reflections.  Is  your  master  drunk  ?  Babies 
of  the  poor.  Loess  roads.  Travellers,  and  how  they  should 
travel.  Wrangling  about  payment  at  the  teashop.  The 
lying  art  among  the  Chinese.  Difference  of  West  and  East. 
The  Chinaman  a  liar  by  nature.  Eastern  and  Western 
civilisation,  and  how  it  is  working.  Remarks  on  the  written 
character  and  Romanisation.  Will  China  lose  her  national 
characteristics  ?  "  Ih  dien  mien,  ih  dien  mien."  A  nasty 
experience  of  the  im potently  dumb.  Rescued  in  the  nick 
of  time. 

When  the  day  shall  come  for  its  history  to  be  told, 
the  historian  will  have  Httle  to  say  of  Lu-feng-hsien, 
that  is — if  he  is  a  decent  sort  of  fellow. 

He  may  refer  to  its  wonderful  bridge,  to  its 
beggars  and  its  ruins.  The  stone  bridge,  one  of  the 
best  of  its  kind  in  the  whole  empire,  and  I  should 
think  better  than  any  other  in  Yiin-nan,  stands 
to-day  conspicuously  emblematic  of  ill-departed 
prosperity.  So  far  as  I  remember,  it  was  the  only 
public  ornament  in  a  condition  of  passable  repair  in 
any  way  creditable  to  the  ratepayers  of  the  hsien. 
The  wall  is  decayed,  the  people  are  decayed,  and  in 
every  nook  and  cranny  are  painful  evidences  of 
preventable  decay,  marked  by  a  conservatism  among 
the  inhabitants  and  unpardonable  indolence. 

The  bridge,  however,  has  stood  the  test  of  time, 
and  bids  fair  to  last  through  eternity.  Other  travellers 
have  passed  over  it  since  the  days  of  Marco  Polo,  but 
I  should  like  to  say  a  word  about  it.    Twelve  yards 

242 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO    TALI-FU. 

or  so  wide,  and  no  less  than  150  yards  long,  it  is 
built  entirely  of  grey  stone ;  with  its  massive  piers, 
its  excellent  masonry,  its  good  (although  crude) 
carving,  its  old-time  sculpturing  of  dreadful-looking 
animals  at  either  end,  its  decorative  triumphal  arches, 
its  masses  of  memorial  tablets  (which  I  could  not 
read),  its  seven  arches  of  beautiful  simplicity  and 
symmetry  and  perfect  proportion,  it  would  have 
been  a  credit  to  any  civilised  country  in  the  world. 
I  noticed  that,  in  addition  to  cementing,  the  stones 
and  pillars  forming  the  sides  of  the  roadway  were  also 
dovetailed.  Among  the  works  of  public  interest  with 
which  successive  emperors  have  covered  China,  the 
bridges  are  not  the  least  remarkable  ;  and  in  them 
one  is  able  to  realise  the  perseverance  of  the  Chinese 
in  the  enormous  difficulties  they  have  had  to  over- 
come in  their  construction. 

Passing  over  the  stream — the  Hsiang-shui  Ho,  I 
believe — I  stepped  out  across  the  plain  with  one  foot 
soaked,  my  pony  having  pulled  me  into  the  water  as 
he  drank.  Peas  and  beans  covered  with  snow 
adjoined  a  heart-breaking  road  which  led  up  to  a 
long,  winding  ascent  through  a  glade  overhung  by 
frost-covered  hedgerows,  where  the  sun  came  gently 
through  and  breathed  the  sweet  coming  of  the 
spring.  From  midway  up  the  mountain  the  view 
of  the  plain  below  and  the  fine  range  of  hills 
separating  me  from  the  capital  was  one  of  exceeding 
loveliness,  the  undisturbed  white  of  the  snow  and 
frost  sparkling  in  the  sunshine  contrasting  most 
strikingly  with  the  darkened  waves  of  billowy  green 
opposite,  with  a  background  of  sharp-edged  moun- 
tains, whose  summits  were  only  now  and  again 
discernible  in  the  waning  morning  mist.  Snow  lay 
deep  in  the  crevices.     My  frozen  path  was  treacherous 

243 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT.  f^ 

for  walking,  but  the  dry,  crisp  air  gave  me  a  gusto 
and  energy  known  only  in  high  latitudes.  In  a  pass 
cleared  out  from  the  rock  we  halted  and  gained 
breath  for  the  second  ascent,  surmounted  by  a 
dismantled  watch-tower.  It  has  long  since  fallen 
into  disuse,  the  sound  tiles  from  the  roof  having 
been  appropriated  for  covering  other  habitable 
dwellings  near  by,  where  one  may  rest  for  tea. 
The  road,  paved  in  some  places,  worn  from  the  side 
of  the  mountain  in  others,  was  suspended  above 
narrow  gorges,  an  entrance  to  a  part  of  the  country 
which  had  the  aspect  of  northern  regions.  The  sun, 
tearing  open  the  curtain  of  blue  mist,  inundated  with 
brightness  one  of  the  most  beautiful  landscapes  it  is 
possible  to  conceive.  A  handful  of  Dublin  Fusiliers 
with  quick-firing  rifles  concealed  in  the  hollows  of 
the  heights  might  have  stopped  a  whole  army 
struggling  up  the  hill-sides.  But  no  one  appeared 
to  stop  me,  so  I  went  on. 

Climbing  was  characteristic  of  the  day.  Lu-feng- 
hsien  is  about  5,500  feet ;  Sei-tze  (where  we  were 
to  sleep)  6,100  feet.  Not  much  of  a  difference  in 
height  ;  but  during  the  whole  distance  one  is  either 
dropping  much  lower  than  Lu-feng  or  much  higher 
than  Sei-tze.  For  thirty  li  up  to  Ta-tsii-si  (6,900 
feet)  there  is  little  to  revel  in,  but  after  that,  right  on 
to  the  terrific  drop  to  our  destination  for  the  night, 
we  were  going  through  mountain  forests  than  which 
there  are  none  better  in  the  whole  of  the  province, 
unless  it  be  on  the  extreme  edge  of  the  Tibetan  border, 
where  accompanying  scenery  is  altogether  different. 
\  From  a  height  of  7,850  feet  we  dropped  abruptly, 
through  clouds  of  thick  red  dust  which  bhnded  my 
eyes  and  filled  my  throat,  down  to  the  city  of  Sei-tze. 
I  went  down  behind  some  ponies.     Upwards  came 

244 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO    TALI-FU. 

a  fellow  struggling  with  two  loads  of  crockery,  and 
in  the  narrow  pathway  he  stood  in  an  elevated 
position  to  let  the  animals  pass.  Irony  of  fate  t 
One  of  the  horses — it  seemed  most  intentional — gave 
his  load  a  tilt :  man  and  crockery  all  went  together 
in  one  heap  to  a  crevice  thirty  yards  down  the 
incline,  and  as  I  proceeded  I  heard  the  choice 
rhetoric  of  the  victim  and  the  muleteer  arguing 
as  to  who  should  pay. 

Just  before  that,  I  dipped  into  the  very  bosom  of 
the  earth,  with  rugged  hills  rising  to  bewildering 
heights  all  round,  base  to  summit  clad  luxuriously 
in  thick  greenery  of  mountain  firs,  a  few  cedars,  and 
the  Chinese  ash.  Black  patches  of  rock  to  the  right 
were  the  death-bed  of  many  a  swaying  giant,  and  in 
contrast,  running  away  sunwards,  a  silver  shimmer 
on  the  unmoving  ocean  of  delicious  green  was  caused 
by  the  slantwise  sun  reflections,  while  in  the  ravines 
on  the  other  side  a  dark  blue  haze  gave  no 
invitation.  Smoothly-curving  fringes  stood  out 
softly  against  the  eternal  blue  of  the  heavens. 
Farther  on,  eloquent  of  their  own  strength  and 
imperturbabihty,  were  deep  rocks,  black  and  defiant  ; 
but  even  here  firs  grew  on  the  projecting  ledges 
which  now  and  again  hung  menacingly  above  the 
red  path,  shading  away  the  sunhght  and  giving  to 
the  dark  crevices  an  atmosphere  of  damp  and  cold, 
where  men's  voices  echoed  and  re-echoed  like  weird 
greetings  from  the  grave.  Onwards  again,  and 
from  the  cool  ravines,  adorned  with  overhanging 
branches,  forming  cosy  retreats  from  the  now 
blazing  sun,  one  emerged  to  a  road  leading  up  once 
more  to  undiscovered  vastnesses.  Yonder  narrowed  a 
gorge,  fine  and  delicately  covered,  pleasing  to  one's 
aesthetic  sense.     The  centre  was  a  dome,  all  full  of 

245 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

life  and  waving  leafage,  ethereal  and  sweet ;  and 
running  down,  like  children  to  their  mother,  were 
numerous  little  hills  densely  clothed  in  a  green 
lighter  and  more  dainty  than  that  of  the  parent  hill, 
throwing  graceful  curtsies  to  the  murmuring  river 
at  the  foot.  As  I  write  here,  bathed  in  the  beauty 
of  spring  sunlight,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  a  few 
hours  since  the  thermometer  was  at  zero.  Little 
spots  of  habitation,  with  foodstuffs  growing  along- 
side, looking  most  lonely  in  their  patches  of  green 
in  the  forest,  added  a  human  and  sentimental 
picturesqueness  to  a  sceae  so  strongly  impressive. 

A  thatched,  bam-like  place  gave  us  rest,  the 
woman  producing  for  me  a  huge  chunk  of  palatable 
rice  sponge-cake  sprinkled  with  brown  sugar.  Little 
naked  children,  offsprings  of  parents  themselves 
covered  with  merest  hanging  rags,  groped  round  me 
and  treated  me  with  courteous  curiosity ;  goats 
smelt  round  the  coolie-loads  of  men  who  rested  on 
low  forms  and  smoked  their  rank  tobacco  ;  smoke 
from  the  green  wood  fires  issued  from  the  mud 
grates,  where  receptacles  were  filled  with  boiling 
water  ready  for  the  traveller,  constantly  re-filled  by 
a  woman  whose  child,  hung  over  her  back,  moaned 
piteously  for  the  milk  its  mother  was  too  busy  to 
give  to  it.  Near  by  a  young  girl  gave  suck  to  a 
deformed  infant,  lucky  to  have  survived  its  birth ; 
her  neck  was  as  big  as  her  breasts — merely  a  case  of 
goitre.  Coolies  passed,  panting  and  puffing,  all 
casting  a  curious  glance  at  him  to  whose  beneficence 
all  were  wilHng  to  pander. 

At  tiffin  I  counted  thirty-three  wretched  people, 
who  turned  out  to  see  the  barbarian.  They  desired, 
and  desired  importunately,  to  touch  me  and  the 
<lothes  which  covered  me.     And  I  submitted. 

246 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

This  halfway  place  was  interesting  owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  lady  in  charge  of  the  buffet  could  speak 
two  words  of  French — she  had,  I  beheve,  acted  as 
washerwoman  to  a  man  who  at  one  time  had  been  in 
the  Customs  at  Mengtsz.  Great  excitement  ensued 
among  the  perspiring  labourers  of  the  road  and  the 
dumb-struck  yokels  of  the  district.  The  lady  was  so 
goitrous  that  it  would  have  been  extremely  risky  to 
hazard  a  guess  as  to  the  exact  spot  where  her  ugly 
face  ended ;  and  here,  in  a  place  where  with  all  her 
neighbours  she  had  Hved  through  a  period  noted  for 
famine,  for  rebelHon,  for  wholesale  death  and  murder 
of  an  entire  village,  she  endured  such  terrible  poverty 
that  one  would  have  thought  her  spirit  would  have 
waned  and  the  light  of  her  youth  burned  out.  But 
no  !  The  lusty  dame  was  still  sprightly.  She  had 
been  three  times  divorced.  The  person  at  present 
connected  with  her  in  the  bonds  of  wedded  hfe — 
also  goitrous  and  morally  repulsive — stood  by  and 
gazed  down  upon  her  like  a  proud  bridegroom.  He 
resented  the  levity  of  Shanks  and  his  companion, 
but,  owing  to  the  detail  of  a  sightless  eye,  he  could 
not  see  all  that  transpired.  However,  we  were  all 
happy  enough.  Charges  were  not  excessive.  My 
men  had  a  good  feed  of  rice  and  cabbage,  with  the 
usual  cabbage  stump,  two  raw  rice  biscuits  (which 
they  threv/  into  the  ashes  to  cook,  and  when  cooked 
picked  the  dirt  off  with  their  long  finger-nails),  and 
as  much  tea  as  they  could  drink — all  for  less  than  a 
penny. 

There  is  something  in  travelhng  in  Yiin-nan, 
where  the  people  away  from  the  cities  exhibit  such 
painful  apathy  as  to  whether  dissolution  of  this  life 
comes  to  them  soon  or  late,  which  breeds  drowsiness. 
After  a  tramp  over  mountains  for  five  or  six  hours 

247 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

on  end,  one  naturally  needed  rest.  To-day,  as  I  sat 
after  lunch  and  wrote  up  my  journal,  I  nearly  fell 
asleep.  As  I  watched  the  reflections  of  all  these 
ill-clad  figures  on  the  stony  roadway,  and  dozed 
meanwhiles,  one  rude  fellow  asked  my  man  whether 
I  was  drunk  ! 

I  was  not  left  long  to  my  reverie. 

Entering  into  a  conversation  intended  for  the 
whole  village  to  hear,  my  bulky  coohe  sublet  his 
contract  for  two  tsien  for  the  eighty  li — we  had 
already  done  lift}'.  The  man  hired  was  a  weak,  thin, 
half-baked  fellow,  whose  body  and  soul  seemed 
hardly  to  hang  together.  He  was  the  first  to  arrive. 
As  soon  as  he  got  in,  this  same  man  took  a  needle 
from  the  inside  of  his  great  straw  hat  and  commenced 
ridding  his  pants  of  somewhat  outrageous  perfora- 
tions. Such  is  the  Chinese  coohe,  although  in 
Yiin-nan  he  would  be  an  exception.  Late  at  night 
he  offered  to  put  a  shoe  on  my  pony.  I  consented. 
He  did  the  job,  providing  a  new  shoe  and  tools  and 
nails,  for  no  cash — just  about  twopence. 

I  could  not  help  thinking  of  the  children  I  had 
seen  to-day,  "  Sad  for  the  dirt-begrimed  babies  that 
they  were  born."  These  children  were  all  a  family 
of  eternal  Topsies — they  merely  grew,  and  few  knew 
how.  They  are  rather  dragged  up  than  brought  up, 
to  hve  or  die,  as  time  might  appoint.  Babies  in 
Yiin-nan,  for  the  great  majority,  are  not  coaxed,  not 
tossed  up  and  down  and  petted,  not  soothed,  not 
humoured.  There  are  none  to  kiss  away  their  tears, 
they  never  have  toys,  and  dream  no  young  dreams, 
but  are  brought  straight  into  the  iron  reahties  of  hfe. 
They  are  reared  in  smoke  and  physical  and  moral 
filth,  and  become  men  and  women  when  they  should 
be  children :  they  haggle  and  envy,  and  swear  and 

248 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO    TALI-FU. 

murmur.  When  in  Yiin-nan — or  even  in  the  whole 
of  China — will  there  be  the  innocence  and  beauty  of 
childhood  as  we  of  the  West  are  blessed  with  ?  _     , 

Roads  here  were  in  many  cases  of  a  Hght  loess,  and 
some  of  red  limestone  rock,  with  a  few  li  of  paved 
roads.  Many  of  the  main  roads  over  the  loess  are 
altered  by  the  rains.  Two  days  of  heavy  rain  will 
produce  in  some  places  seas  of  mud,  often  knee-deep, 
and  this  will  again  dry  up  quite  as  rapidly  with  the 
next  sunshine.  They  become  undermined,  and 
crumble  away  from  the  action  of  even  a  trickUng- 
stream,  so  as  to  become  always  unsafe  and  some- 
times quite  impassable. 

Delays  are  very  dear  to  the  heart  of  every  China-  \ 
man.  The  traveller,  if  he  is  desirous  of  getting  his  / 
caravan  to  move  on  speedily,  has  little  chance  of ! 
success  unless  he  assumes  an  attitude  of  profoundest; 
indifference  to  all  men  and  things  around  him — ■ 
never  appear  to  be  in  a  hurry.  ,.J 

We  are  accompanied  to  day  to  Kwang-tung-hsien 
by  the  coolie  who  carried  the  load  yesterday.  He  sits 
by  staring  enviously  at  his  compatriots  in  the  employ 
of  the  foreign  magnate,  who  rests  on  a  stone  behind 
and  listens  to  the  conversation.  They  invite  him  ta 
carry  again ;  he  refuses.  Now  the  argument — 
natural  and  right  and  proper — is  ensuing  with 
warmth.  Lao  Chang,  with  the  air  of  a  hsien  "  gwan,"-*^  Ff'  ^  '"  ' 
sits  in  judgment  upon  them,  bringing  to  bear  his  long 
experience  of  coolies,  and  the  amount  of  "  heart- 
money  "  they  receive,  and  has  decided  that  the  fellow 
should  receive  a  tenth  of  a  dollar  and  twenty  cash 
in  addition  for  carrying  the  heavier  of  the  loads  the 
remaining  thirty  li,  as  against  ten  cents  offered  by 
the  men.  He  is  now  extending  philosophic  advice 
to  them  all,  based  on  a  knowledge  of  the  coolie's 

249 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

life  ;  the  little  meeting  breaks  up,  good  feeling  pre- 
vails, and  the  loads  carried  on  merrily.  I  still  linger, 
sipping  my  tea.  Lao  Chang  has  grumbled  because 
he  has  had  to  shell  out  seven  cash,  and  I  have 
already  drunk  ten  cups  (he  generally  uses  the  tea 
leaves  afterwards  for  his  personal  use). 
{  But  wranghng  about  payment  prevails  always 
where  Chinamen  congregate.  In  China,  by  high  and 
low,  lies  are  told  without  the  sHghtest  apparent  com- 
punction. One  of  the  men  in  the  above-mentioned 
dispute  had  an  irrepressible  volubility  of  assertion. 
He  at  once  flew  into  a  temper,  adopting  the  style  of 
the  stage  actor,  proclaiming  his  virtue  so  that  it 
might  have  been  heard  at  Yiin-nan-fu.  He  was  pre- 
serving his  "  face."  For  in  this  country  temper  is 
often,  what  it  is  not  in  the  West,  a  test  of  truth. 
Among  Westerners  nothing  is  more  insulting  some- 
times than  a  philosophic  temper  ;  but  in  China  you 
must,  as  a  first  law  unto  yourself,  protect  yourself 
at  all  costs  and  against  all  comers,  and  it  generally 
requires  a  good  deal  of  noise.  Here  the  bully  is  not 
the  coward.  In  respect  of  lying,  it  seems  to  be 
absolutely  universal ;  the  poor  copy  the  vice  from 
the  rich.  It  seems  to  be  in  the  very  natures  of  the 
people,  and  although  it  is  hard  to  write,  my  experi- 
ence convinces  me  that  my  statement  is  not  exag- 
geration. I  have  found  the  Chinaman — I  speak  of  the 
common  people,  for  in  my  travels  I  have  not  mixed 
much  with  the  rich — the  greatest  liar  on  earth.  I 
question  whether  the  great  preponderance  of  the 
Chinese  people  speak  six  consecutive  sentences 
without  misrepresentation  or  exaggeration,  tanta- 
mount to  lying.  Regretting  that  I  have  to  write 
it,  I  give  it  as  my  opinion  that  the  Chinaman  is  a 
liar  by  nature.     And  when  he  is  confronted  with  the 

250 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

charge  of  lying,  the  culprit  seems  seldom  to  feel  any 
sense  of  guilt. 

And  yet  in  business — above  the  petty  bargaining 
business — we  have  as  the  antithesis  that  the  China- 
man's word  is  his  bond.  I  would  rather  trust  the 
Chinaman  merely  on  his  word  than  the  Jap  with  a 
signed  contract. 

The  Chinaman  knows  that  the  Englishman  is  not 
a  liar,  and  he  respects  him  for  it  ;  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  in  Yiin-nan  there  will  soon  be  seen  the 
two  streams  of  civihsation  which  now  flow  in  com- 
parative harmony  in  other  more  enlightened  pro- 
vinces flowing  here  also  in  a  single  channel.  These 
two  streams — of  the  East  and  the  West — repre- 
sent ideas  in  social  structure,  in  Government,  in 
standards  of  morahty,  in  rehgion  and  in  almost 
every  human  conception  as  diverse  as  the  peoples  are 
racially  apart.  They  cannot,  it  is  evident,  hve  to- 
gether. The  one  is  bound  to  drive  out  the  other,  or 
there  must  be  such  a  modification  of  both  as  will 
allow  them  to  live  together,  and  be  linked  in  sym- 
pathies which  go  farther  than  exploiting  the  country 
for  initial  greed.  The  Chinese  will  never  lose  all  the 
traces  of  their  inhabited  customs  of  daily  life,  of 
habits  of  thought  and  language,  products  which 
have  been  borne  down  the  ages  since  a  time 
contemporary  with  that  of  Solomon.  No  fair- 
minded  man  would  wish  it.  And  it  is  at  once 
impossible. 

The  language,  for  instance.  Who  is  there,  who 
knows  anything  about  it,  who  would  wish  to  see  the 
Chinese  character  drop  out  of  the  national  Hfe  ? 
Yet  it  is  bound  to  come  to  some  extent,  and  in 
future  ages  the  written  language  will  develop  into 
pretty  well   the   same   as   Latin   among   ourselves. 

251 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

Romanisation,  although  as  yet  far  from  being  accom- 
phshed,  must  sooner  or  later  come  into  vogue,  as  is 
patent  at  the  first  glance  at  business.  If  commerce 
in  the  Interior  is  to  grow  to  any  great  extent  in 
succeeding  generations,  warranting  direct  corre- 
spondence with  the  ports  at  the  coast  and  with  the 
outside  world,  the  Chinese  hieroglyph  will  not  con- 
tinue to  suffice  as  a  satisfactory  means  of  communi- 
cation. No  correspondence  in  Chinese  will  ever  be 
written  on  a  machine  such  as  I  am  now  using  to  type 
this  manuscript,  and  this  valuable  adjunct  of  the 
ofhce  must  surely  force  its  way  into  Chinese  com- 
mercial life.  But  only  when  Romanisation  becomes 
more  or  less  universal. 

This,  however,  by  the  way. 

My  point  is,  that  no  matter  how  Occidentalised  he 
may  become,  the  Chinaman  will  never  lose  his 
national  characteristics — not  so  much  probably  as 
the  Japanese  has  done.  What  the  youth  has  been 
at  home,  in  his  habits  of  thought,  in  his  purpose  and 
spirit,  in  his  manifestation  of  action,  will  largely 
determine  his  after  hfe.  Chinese  mental  and  moral 
history  has  so  stamped  certain  ineffaceable  marks  on 
her  language,  and  the  thought  and  character  of  her 
people,  that  she  will  never — even  were  she  so  wishful 
— obliterate  her  Oriental  features,  and  must  always 
and  inevitably  remain  Chinese.  The  conflict,  how- 
ever, is  not  racial,  it  is  a  question  of  civilisation. 
Were  it  racial  only,  to  my  way  of  thinking  we 
should  be  beaten  hopelessly. 

And  as  I  write  this  in  a  Chinese  inn,  in  the  heart  of 
Yiin-nan — the  "  backward  province  " — surrounded 
by  the  common  people  in  their  common,  dirty,  daily 
doings,  a  far  stretch  of  vivid  imagining  is  needed  to 
see    these    people    in    any    way    approaching    the 

252 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO    TALI-FU. 

Westernisation  already  current  in  eastern  provinces 
of  this  dark  Empire.*  — 

But  I  was  speaking  of  my  men  delaying  on  the 
Toad  to  Kwang-tung-hsien,  when  they  laughed  at 
my  impatience. 

"  Ih  dien  mien,  ih  dien  mien,"  shouted  one,  as 
he  held  out  a  huge  blue  bowl  of  white  wormlike 
strings   and   a   couple   of   chopsticks.      "  Mien,"   it 

*  This  is  what  I  wrote  sitting  on  the  top  of  a  mountain  during 
my  tour  across  China.  But  it  will  be  seen  in  other  parts  of  this 
book  that  Western  ideas  and  methods  of  progress  in  accord  more 
with  European  standards  are  being  adopted — and  in  some 
places  with  considerable  energy — even  in  the  "  backward  pro- 
vince." In  travel  anywhere  in  the  world,  one  becomes  absorbed 
more  or  less  with  one's  own  immediate  surroundings,  and  there  is  a 
tendency  to  form  opinions  on  the  limitations  of  those  surround- 
ings. In  many  countries  this  would  not  lead  one  far  astray,  but 
in  China  it  is  different.  Most  of  my  opinion  of  the  real  Chinese 
is  formed  in  Yiin-nan,  and  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  in  all  the  other 
seventeen  provinces,  although  a  good  many  of  them  may  be 
naore  forward  in  the  trend  of  national  evolution  and  progress, 
the  same  squalidness  among  the  people,  and  every  condition 
antagonistic  to  the  Westerner's  education  so  often  referred  to, 
are  to  be  found.  But  China  has  four  hundred  and  thirty  millions 
of  people,  so  that  what  one  writes  of  one  particular  province — 
in  the  main  right,  perhaps — may  not  necessarily  hold  good 
in  another  province,  separated  by  thousands  of  miles,  and 
where  climatic  conditions  have  been  responsible  for  differ- 
ences in  general  life.  With  its  great  area  and  its  great 
population,  it  does  not  need  the  mind  of  a  Spencer  to  see  that  it 
will  take  generations  before  every  acre  and  every 'man  will  be 
gathered  into  the  stream  of  national  progress. 

The  European  traveller  in  China  cannot  perhaps  deny  himself 
the  pleasure  of  dwelling  upon  the  absurdities  and  oddities  of  the 
life  as  they  strike  him,  but  there  is  also  another  side  to  the  ques- 
tion. Our  own  civilisation,  presenting  so  many  features  so 
extremely  removed  from  his  own  ancient  ideas  and  preconceived 
notion  of  things  in  general,  probably  looks  quite  as  ridiculous  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  Chinaman.  The  East  and  the  West  have  each 
lessons  to  offer  the  other.  The  West  is  offering  them  to  the  East, 
and  they  are  being  absorbed.  And  perhaps  were  we  to  learn  the 
lessons  to  which  we  now  close  our  eyes  and  ears,  but  which  are 
being  put  before  us  in  the  characteristics  of  Oriental  civilisation, 
we  may  in  years  to  come,  sooner  than  we  expect,  rejoice  to  think 
that  we  have  something  in  return  for  what  we  have  given  ;  it 
may  save  us  a  rude  awakening.  It  does  not  strike  the  avera  e 
European,  who  has  never  been  to  China,  and  who  knows  no 
more  about  the  country  than  the  telegrams  which  filter  through 
when  massacres  of  our  own  compatriots  occur,  that  Europe  and 
where  America  are  not  the  only  territories  on  this  little  round  ball 
the  inhabitants  have  been  left  with  a  glorious  heritage. — E.  J.  D. 

253 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

should  be  said,  is  something  hke  vermicelH.  A 
tremendous  amount  of  it  is  eaten;  and  in  Singapore, 
without  exception,  it  is  dried  over  the  city's  drains, 
hung  from  pole  to  pole  after  the  rope-maker's 
fashion.  Its  shpperiness  renders  the  long  boneless 
strings  most  difficult  of  efficient  adjustment,  and  the 
recollection  of  the  entertainment  my  comrades  re- 
ceived as  I  struggled  to  get  a  decent  mouthful  sticks 
to  me  still. 

After  that  I  hurried  on,  got  off  the  "  ta  lu,"  and 
suffered  a  nasty  experience  for  my  foolishness.  When 
nearing  the  city,  inquiring  whether  my  men  had  gone 
on  inside  the  walls,  a  manure  coohe,  Har  that  he  was, 
told  me  that  they  had.  I  strode  on  again,  en- 
countering the  crowds  who  blocked  the  roadway  as 
market  progressed,  who  stared  in  a  suspicious 
manner  at  the  generally  disreputable,  tired,  and  dirty 
foreigner.  Each  moment  I  expected  the  escort  to 
arrive.  I  could  not  sit  down  and  drink  tea,  for  I 
had  not  a  single  cash  on  my  person.  I  could  speak 
none  of  the  language,  and  could  merely  push  on, 
with  the  ragtags  at  my  heels,  becoming  more  and 
more  embarrassed  by  the  pointing  and  staring 
pubUc.  I  turned,  but  could  see  none  of  my  men.  I 
managed  to  get  to  the  outer  gate,  and  there  sat  down 
on  the  grass,  with  five  score  of  gaping  idiots  in  front 
of  me.  Seeing  this  vulgar-looking  intruder  among 
them,  who  could  not  answer  their  simplest  queries, 
or  give  any  reason  for  being  there,  suspicion  grew 
worse  ;  they  naturally  wanted  to  know  what  it  was, 
and  what  it  wanted.  Some  thought  I  might  be  deaf, 
and  raved  questions  in  my  ear  at  the  top  of  their 
voices.  Even  then  I  remained  impotently^dumb. 
Two  poUcemen  came  and  said  something.  At 
their  invitation  I  followed  them,  and  found  myself 

254 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

later  in  a  small  police  box,   the  street  lined  with 
people. 

The  man  hailed  me  in  speech  uncivil.  He  was  huge 
as  the  hyperborean  bear,  and  cruel  looking,  and  with 
a  sort  of  apologetic  petitionary  growl  I  sidled  off; 
but  it  was  anything  but  comfortable,  and  I  should 
not  have  been  surprised  had  I  found  myself  being 
led  off  to  the  yamen.  After  a  nerve-trying  half-hour^ 
I  was  thankful  to  see  the  form  of  my  man^appearing 
at  the  moment  when  I  was  vehemently  expressing 
indignation  at  not  being  understood. 


255 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

A  bumptious  official.  Ignominious  contrasts  of  two  travellers. 
Diminishing  respect  for  foreigners  in  the  Far  East.  Where 
the  European  fails.  His  maltreatment  of  Orientals. 
Convicts  on  the  way  to  death.  At  Ch'u-hsiong-fu.  Buffaloes 
and  children.  Exasperating  repetition  met  in  Chinese  home 
life.  UncBsthetic  womanhood.  Quarrymen  and  careless 
tactics.  Scope  for  the  physiologist.  Interesting  unit  of  the 
city's  humanity.  Signs  of  decay  in  the  country-side.  Carry- 
ing the  dead  to  eternal  rest.  At  Chennan-chou.  Public 
kotowing  ceremony  and  its  aftermath.  Chinese  ignorance 
of  distance. 

All-round  idyllic  peace  did  not  reign  at  Kwang- 
tung-hsien,  where  I  rested  over  Sunday.  Contrasts 
in  social  conditions  gave  rise  inevitably  to  causes 
for  conflicts. 

Arriving  early,  my  men  were  able  to  secure  the 
best  room  and  soon  after,  with  much  imposing 
pomp  and  show,  a  "  gwan  "*  arrived,  disgusted  that 
he  had  to  take  a  lower  room.  I  bowed  politely  to 
him  as  he  came  in.  He  did  not  return  it,  however, 
but  stood  with  a  contemptuous  grin  upon  his  face  as 
he  took  in  the  situation.  I  do  not  know  who  the 
person  was,  neither  have  a  wish  to  trace  his  ancestry, 
but  his  bumptiousness  and  general  misbehaviour, 
utterly  in  antagonism  to  national  etiquette,  made  me 
hate  the  sight  of  the  fellow.  Pride  has  been  said  to 
make  a  man  a  hedgehog.  I  do  not  say  that  this 
man  was  a  hedgehog  altogether,  but  he  certainly 
seemed  to  wound  everyone  he  touched.  He  had 
with  him  a  great  retmue,  an  extravagant  equipage, 
fine  clothes,  and  presumably  a  great  fortune  ;  but 
*  "  Gwan  "  is  the  Chinese  for  "  official." 

256 


The  author  at  diniiev  by  the  roadside  in  Yi'in-naii. 


A  celestial  trio. 


.M^>^ 


Professional  Chinese  beggars. 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO    TALI-FU. 

none  of  this  offended  me — it  was  his  contempt  which 
hurt.  He  seemed  to  splash  me  with  mud  as  he 
passed,  and  was  altogether  badly  disposed.  In  his 
every  act  he  heaped  humiliation  upon  me,  and 
insulted  me  silently  and  gratuitously  with  unbearable 
disdain.  Luckily,  be  it  said  to  the  credit  of  the 
Chinese  Government,  one  does  not  often  meet 
officials  of  this  kind  ;  such  an  atmosphere  would 
nurture  the  worst  feeling.  It  is,  of  course,  possible 
that  had  I  been  travelling  with  many  men  and  in  a 
style  necessary  for  representatives  of  foreign  Govern- 
ments, this  hog  might  have  been  more  polite  ;  but 
the  fact  that  I  had  little  with  me,  and  made  a  poor 
sort  of  a  show,  allowed  him  to  come  out  in  his  true 
colours  and  display  his  unveneered  feeling  towards 
the  foreigner.  That  he  had  no  knowledge  of  the 
man  crossing  China  on  foot  was  evident.  He  was 
great  and  rich — that  was  the  sentiment  he  breathed 
out  to  everyone — and  the  foreigner  was  humble. 
There  is  no  wrong  in  enjoying  a  large  superfluity,  but 
it  was  not  indispensable  to  have  displayed  it,  to  have 
wounded  the  eyes  of  him  who  lacked  it,  to  have  flaunted 
his  magnificence  at  the  door  of  my  commonplace. 

Had  I  been  able  to  speak,  I  should  have  pointed 
out  to  this  fellow  that  to  know  how  to  be  rich  is  an 
art  difficult  to  master,  and  that  he  had  not  mastered' 
it ;  that  as  an  official  his  first  duty  in  exercising 
power  was  to  learn  that  of  humility ;  and  that  it  is  the 
irritating  authority  of  such  very  lofty  and  imperious 
beings  as  himself,  who  say,  "  I  am  the  law,"  that  pro- 
vokes insurrection.  However,  I  was  dumb,  and  could 
only  return  his  contemptuous  glance  now  and  again. 

To  him  I  could  have  said,  as  I  would  here  say  also  to 
every  foreigner  in  the  employ  of  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment, "  The  only  true  distinction  is  superior  worth." 

257 

18 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

If  foreigners  in  China  are  to  have  social  and  official 
rank  respected,  they  must  begin  to  be  worthy  of 
their  rank,  otherwise  they  help  to  bring  it  into 
hatred  and  contempt.  It  is  a  pity  some  native 
officials  have  to  learn  the  same  lesson. 
I  In  several  years  of  residence  in  the  Far  East  I  have 
noticed  respect  for  the  foreigner  unhappily  diminish- 
ing. The  root  of  the  evil  is  in  the  mistaken  idea  that 
high  station  exempts  him  who  holds  it  from  observing 
the  common  obligations  of  life.  It  comes  about — 
so  often  have  I  seen  it  in  the  Straits  Settlements  and 
in  various  parts  of  India — that  those  who  demand  the 
most  homage  make  the  least  effort  to  merit  that 
homage  they  demand.  That  is  chiefly  why  respect 
for  the  foreigner  in  the  Orient  is  diminishing,  and  I 
have  no  hesitancy  in  asserting  that  the  average 
European  in  the  East  and  Far  East  does  not  treat 
the  Oriental  with  respect.  He  considers  that  the 
Chinaman,  the  Malay,  the  Burman,  the  Indian  is 
there  to  do  the  donkey  work  only.  The  new-comer 
generally  discovers  in  himself  an  astounding  personal 
omnipotence,  and  even  before  he  can  talk  the  language 
is  so  obsessed  with  it  that  as  he  grows  older,  his 
sense  of  it  broadens  and  deepens.  And  in  China — 
of  the  Chinese  this  is  true  to-day  as  in  other  spheres 
of  the  Far  East — the  native  is  there  to  do  the  donkey 
work,  and  does  it  contentedly  and  for  the  most  part 
cheerfully.  But  he  will  not  always  be  so  content  and 
so  cheerful.  He  will  not  always  suffer  a  leathering 
from  a  man  whom  he  knows  he  dare  not  now   hit 

*  I  have  seen  a  European,  with  an  imperfect  hold  of  an  eastern 
language,  knock  an  Asiatic  down  because  he  thought  the  man  was 
a  fool,  whereas  he  himself  was  ignorant  of  what  was  going  on. 
The  message  the  coolie  was  bringing  was  misunderstood  by  the 
conceited  assistant,  and  as  a  result  of  having  just  this  smattering 
of  the  vernacular,  he  ran  his  firm  in  for  a  loss  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars.— E.  J.  D. 

258 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO    TALI-FU. 

back.*  Some  day  he  may  hit  back.  We  have  seen  it 
before,  how  at  some  moment,  by  some  interior  force 
making  a  way  to  the  Hght,  an  explosion  takes  place  : 
there  is  an  upheaval,  all  sorts  of  grave  disorders, 
and  because  some  Europeans  are  killed  the  Celestial 
Government  is  called  upon  to  pay,  and  to  pay 
heavily.  Indemnities  are  given,  but  the  Chinese 
pride  still  feels  the  smart.  , 

Pulling  away  up  the  sides  of  barren,  sandy  hills  in 
my  lonely  pilgrimage,  I  could  see  wide,  fertile  plains 
sheltered  in  the  undulating  hollows  of  mountains, 
over  which  in  arduous  toil  I  vanished  and  re-appeared, 
how  or  where  I  could  hardly  calculate.  Suddenly, 
rounding  an  awkward  corner,  a  magnificent  panorama 
broke  upon  the  view  in  a  rolling  valley  watered  by 
many  streams  below,  all  green  with  growing  wheat. 
A  high  spur  about  midway  up  the  rolling  mountain 
forms  a  capital  spot  for  wayfarers  to  stop  and 
exchange  travellers'  notes.  A  couple  of  convicts 
were  here,  their  feet  manacled  and  their  white  cotton 
clothing  branded  with  the  seal  of  death  ;  by  the  side 
were  the  crude  wooden  cages  in  which  they  were 
carried  by  four  men,  with  whom  they  mixed  freely 
and  manufactured  coarse  jokes.  In  six  days  bang 
would  fall  the  knife,  and  their  heads  would  roll  at 
the  feet  of  the  executioners  at  Yiin-nan-fu. 

Coming  into  Ch'u-hsiong-fu* — the  stage  is  what 
the  men  call  90  li,  but  it  is  not  more  than  70 — I  was 
brought  to  an  insignificant  wayside  place  where  the 
innkeeper  upbraided  my  boy  for  endeavouring  to 
allow  me  to  pass  without  wetting  a  cup  at  his  bonny 
hostelry.  Had  I  done  so,  I  should  have  avouched 
myself  utterly  indifferent  to  reputation  as  a  traveller. 

*  Ts'u-hsiong-fu,  as  it  is  pronounced  locally,  with  a  strong 
"  ts  "  initial  sound. 

259 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

But  I  did  not  stay  the  night  here.  I  passed  on 
through  the  town  to  a  new  building,  an  inn,  into 
which  I  peered  inquiringly.  A  well-dressed  lad 
came  courteously  forward,  in  his  bowing  and  scraping 
seeming  to  say,  "  Good  sir,  we  most  willingly  embrace 
the  opportunity  of  being  honoured  with  your  noble 
self  and  your  retinue  under  our  poor  roof.  Long 
since  have  we  known  your  excellent  qualities;  long 
have  we  wished  to  have  you  with  us.  We  can  have 
no  reserve  towards  a  person  of  your  open  and  noble 
nature.  The  frankness  of  your  humour  deHghts  us. 
Disburden  yourself,  O  great  brother,  here  and  at 
once  of  your  paraphernalia." 

I  stayed,  and  was  charged  more  for  lodging  than 
at  any  other  place  in  all  my  wanderings  in  China. 
My  experience  was  different  to  that  of  Major  Davies 
when  he  visited  this  city  in  1899.     He  writes  : — 

"  The  people  of  this  town  are  particularly  con- 
servative and  exclusive.  They  have  such  an 
objection  to  strangers  that  no  inn  is  allowed  within 
the  city  walls,  and  no  one  from  any  other  town  is 
allowed  to  establish  a  shop.  .  .  .  When  the 
telegraph  line  was  first  taken  through  here  there 
was  much  commotion,  and  so  determined  was  the 
opposition  of  the  townspeople  to  this  new-fangled 
means  of  communication  that  the  telegraph  office 
had  to  be  put  inside  the  colonel's  yamen,  the  only 
place  where  it  would  be  safe  from  destruction." 

The  proprietor  of  the  inn  in  which  I  stayed  was  a 
man  of  goodly  person  and  somewhat  corpulent,  of 
about  fifty,  comely  presence,  good  humour,  and  privi- 
leged freedom.  He  had  a  pretty  daughter.  He  was 
an  exception  to  the  ordinary  father  in  China,  in  the 
fact  that  he  was  proud  of  her,  as  he  was  of  his  house 

260 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

and  his  faring.  But  in  all  conscience  he  should  have 
been  abundantly  ashamed  of  his  charges,  for  my 
boy  said  I  was  charged  three  times  too  much,  and 
I  have  no  cause  for  doubting  his  word  either,  for^he 
was  fairly  honest.  I  once  had  a  boy  in  Singapore 
who  acted  for  three  weeks  as  a  "  ganti  "*  whilst  my 
own  boy  underwent  a  surgical  operation,  and 
between  mis  reckonings,  miscarriages,  misdealings, 
mistakes  and  misdemeanours,  had  he  remained  with 
me  another  month  I  should  have  had  to  pack  up 
lock,  stock  and  barrel  and  clear, 

I  stayed  here  a  day  in  the  hope  of  getting  my 
mail,  but  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  only  the  bag 
containing  them.  It  was  sealed,  and  the  postmaster 
had  no  authority  to  break  that  seal. 

There  were  no  telegraph  poles  in  the  district 
through  which  I  was  passing ;  the  connections 
were  affixed  to  the  trunks  of  trees.  The  telegraph 
runs  right  across  the  Ch'u-hsiong-fu  plain,  on 
entering  which  one  crosses  a  rustic  bridge  just 
below  a  rather  fine  pagoda,  from  which  an  ex- 
cellent view  is  obtained  of  the  old  city.  The  wall 
up  towards  the  north  gate,  where  there  is  another 
pagoda,  is  built  over  a  high  knoll,  inside  which  half 
the  town  is  uncultivated  ground.  Four  youngsters 
here  were  having  a  great  time  on  the  back  of  a 
lazy  buffalo,  who,  turning  his  head  swiftly  to  get 
rid  of  some  irritating  bee,  dislodged  the  quartet 
to  the  ground,  where  they  fought  and  cursed  each 
other  over  the  business. 

Everything  that  one  sees  around  here  is  particu- 
larly "  Chinesey."  It  may  be  supposed  that  I  am 
not  the  first  person  who  has  gone  through  town  after 
town  and  found  in  all  that  he  looks  at,  particularly 

*  Meaning  a  relief  hand  (Malay). 
261 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the  houses,  certain  forms  identical,  inevitabie, 
exasperating  by  common  repetition.  It  has  been 
Fsaid  that  poetry  is  not  in  things,  it  is  in  us  ;  but  in 
China  very  little  poetry  comes  into  the  homes  and 
lives  of  the  common  millions  :  they  are  all  dead 
dwelling-houses,  even  the  best,  bare  homes  without 
life  or  brightness.  Among  the  working-classes  of 
the  West  there  is  to  be  found  a  kind  of  ministering 
beauty  which  makes  its  way  everywhere,  springing 
from  the  hands  of  woman.  When  the  dweUing  is 
cramped,  the  purse  limited,  the  table  modest,  a 
woman  who  has  the  gift  finds  a  way  to  make  order 
and  puts  care  and  art  into  everything  in  her  house, 
puts  a  soul  into  the  inanimate,  and  gives  those 
subtle  and  winsome  touches  to  which  the  most  brutish 
of  human  beings  is  sensible.  But  in  China  woman 
does  nothing  of  this.  Her  life  is  unaesthetic  to  the  last 
degree.  No  happy  improvisations  or  touches  of  the 
stamp  of  personality  enter  her  home  ;  one  cannot 
trace  the  touches  of  witchery  in  the  tying  of  a  ribbon . 
Everywhere  you  find  the  same  class  of  furniture  and 
garniture,  the  same  shape  of  table,  of  stool,  of  form, 
of  bed,  of  cooking  utensils,  of  picture,  of  everything  ; 
and  all  the  details  of  her  housekeeping  are  so  apathe- 
tically uninteresting.  The  Chinese  woman  has  no 
charming  art,  rather  is  it  a  common,  horrid,  daily 
grind.  She  is  not,  as  the  woman  should  be,  the 
interpreter  in  her  home  of  her  own  grace,  and  she 
differs  from  her  Western  sister  in  that  it  is  impossible 
for  her  to  express  in  her  dress  also  the  Httle  personali- 
ties of  character — all  is  eternally  the  same.  But  I 
know  so  very  little  of  ladies'  clothing,  and  therefore 
Icease. 

Quarrying  was  going  on  high  up  among  the  hills 
as  I  left  the  city.     Men  were  out  of  sight,  but  their 

262 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

hammering  was  heard  distinctly.  As  each  boulder 
was  freed  these  wielders  of  the  hammer  yelled  to 
passers-by  to  look  out  for  their  heads,  gave  the 
stone  a  push  to  start  it  rolling,  and  if  it  rolled  upon 
you  it  was  your  own  fault  and  not  theirs — you  should 
have  seen  to  it  that  you  were  somewhere  else  at  the 
time.  If  it  blocked  the  pathway,  another  had  to 
be  made  by  those  who  made  the  traffic.  Directly 
under  the  quarry  I  was  accosted  by  a  beggar.  "  Old 
foreign  man  !  Old  foreign  man  !  "  he  yelled.  Stones 
were  falling  fast ;  it  is  possible  that  he  does  not  sit 
there  now. 

Physiologists  do  not  swarm  in  China.  There  is 
grand  scope  for  someone.  There  would  be  ample 
material  for  research  for  the  student  in  the  soldiers 
alone  who  would  be  sent  to  guard  him  from  place 
to  place.  He  would  not  need  to  go  farther  afield ; 
for  he  would  be  given  fat  men  and  lean  men,  brave 
men  and  cowards,  some  blessed  with  brains  and  some 
not  one  whit  brainy,  civil  and  surly,  stubby  and 
lanky,  but  rogues  and  liars  all.  Travellers  are 
always  interested  in  their  chairmen ;  oftentimes  my 
interest  in  them  was  greater  than  theirs  in  me,  until 
the  time  came  for  us  to  part.  Then  the  "  Ch'a 
ts'ien,"  always  in  view  from  the  outset  of  their 
duty,  brought  us  in  a  manner  nearer  to  each  other. 

As  I  came  out  of  the  inn  at  Ch'u-hsiong-fu  some- 
what hurriedly,  for  my  men  lingered  long  over  the 
rice,  I  stumbled  over  the  yamen  fellow  who  crouched 
by  the  doorside.  He  laughed  heartily.  Had  I  fallen  on 
him  his  tune  might  have  been  changed ;  but  no  matter. 
This  unit  of  the  city  humanity  was  not  bewilder- 
ingly  beautiful.  He  was  profoundly  ill-proportioned 
very  goitrous,  and  ravages  of  small-pox  had  be- 
queathed to  him  a  wonderful  facial  ugliness.    He  had, 

263 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

however,  be  it  written  to  his  honour,  learnt  that  Hfe 
was  no  theory.  One  could  see  that  at  a  glance  as 
he  walked  along  at  the  head  of  the  procession,  with 
a  stride  like  an  ox,  manfully  shouldering  his  absurd 
weapon  of  office,  which  in  the  place  of  a  gun  was  an 
immense  carved  wooden  mace,  not  unlike  a  leg  of 
the  old-time  wooden  bedstead  of  antiquity.  His 
ugliness  was  embittered  somewhat  by  sunken, 
toothless  jaws  and  an  enigmatical  stare  from  a 
cross-eye ;  he  was  also  knock-kneed,  and  as  an 
erstwhile  gunpowder  worker,  had  lost  two  fingers 
and  a  large  part  of  one  ear.  But  he  had  learnt  the 
secret  of  simple  duty  :  he  had  no  dreams,  no  ambi- 
tion embracing  vast  limits,  did  not  appear  to  wish 
to  achieve  great  things,  unless  it  were  that  in  his 
fideHty  to  small  things  he  laid  the  base  of  great 
achievements.  He  waited  upon  me  hand  and  foot ; 
he  burned  with  ardour  for  my  personal  comfort  and 
well-being  ;  he  did  not  complicate  life  by  being 
engrossed  in  anything  which  to  him  was  of  no 
concern — his  only  concern  was  the  foreigner,  and 
towards  me  he  carried  out  his  duty  faithfully  and  to 
the  letter.  I  would  wager  that  that  man,  ugly  of  face 
and  form,  but  most  kindly  disposed  to  one  who  could 
communicate  nothing  but  dumb  approval,  was  an 
excellent  citizen,  an  excellent  father,  an  excellent  son. 
So  very  different  was  another  traveller  who  un- 
ceremoniously forced  himself  upon  me  with  the 
inevitable  "  Ching  fan,  ching  fan,"  although  he  had 
no  food  to  offer.  He  commenced  with  a  far- 
fetched eulogium  of  my  ambHng  palfrey  Rusty,  who 
limped  along  leisurely  behind  me.  So  far  as  he 
could  remember,  poor  ignorant  ass,  he  had  never 
seen  a  pony  like  it  in  his  extensive  travels — probably 
from  Yiin-nan-fu  to  TaH-fu,  if  so  far ;  but  as  a  matter 

264 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

of  fact,  Rusty  had  wrenched  his  right  fore  fetlock 
between  a  gully  in  the  rocks  the  day  before  and  was 
now  going  lame.  Dressed  fairly  respectably  in  the 
universal  blue,  my  unsought  companion  was  of 
middle  stature,  strongly  built,  but  so  clumsily  as  to 
border  almost  on  deformity,  and  to  give  all  his 
movements  the  ungainly  awkwardness  of  a  left- 
handed,  left-legged  man.  He  walked  with  a  limp, 
was  suffering  (hke  myself)  with  sore  feet ;  if  not 
that,  it  was  som.ething  incomparably  worse.  Not 
for  a  moment  throughout  the  day  did  he  leave  my 
side,  the  only  good  point  about  him  being  that 
when  we  drank — tea,  of  course — he  vainly  begged 
to  be  allowed  to  pay.  In  that  he  was  the  shadow 
of  some  of  my  friends  of  younger  days. 

But  of  men  enough. 

From  Ch'u-hsiong-fu  right  on  to  Tali-fu  the  whole 
country  bears  lamentable  signs  of  gradual  ruin  and 
decay,  a  falling  off  from  better  times.  The  former 
city  is  probably  the  most  important  point  on  the 
route,  and  is  mentioned  as  a  likely  point  for  the 
proposed  Yiin-nan  Railway. 

The  country  has  never  recovered  from  the  terrible 
effects  of  the  great  Mohammedan  Rebellion  of  1857. 
Foundations  of  once  imposing  buildings  still  stand 
out  in  fearful  significance,  and  ruins  everywhere 
over  the  barren  country  tell  plain  tales  all  too  sad  of 
the  good  days  gone.  Temples,  originally  fit  for  the 
largest  city  in  the  Empire,  with  elaborate  wood  and 
stone  carving  and  costly,  weird  images  sculptured  in 
stone,  with  particularly  fine  specimens  of  those 
blood-curdling  Buddhistic  hells  and  their  presiding 
monsters,  with  miniature  ornamental  pagodas  and 
intricate  archways,  are  all  now  unused  ;  and  when  the 
people  need  material  for  any  new  building  (seldom 

265 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

■erected  now  in  this  district),  the  temple  grounds 
are  robbed  still  more.  In  the  days  of  its  prosperity 
Yiin-nan  must  have  been  a  fair  land  indeed,  bright, 
smiling,  seductive  ;  now  it  is  the  exact  antithesis,  and 
the  people  hve  sad,  fiat,  colourless  existences. 

For  three  days  my  caravan  was  preceded  by  twelve 
men,  headed  by  a  sort  of  gaffer  with  a  gong,  carrying 
a  corpse  in  a  massive  black  coffin,  elaborate  in  red 
and  blue  silk  drapings  and  with  the  inevitable 
white  cock  presiding,  one  leg  tied  with  a  couple  of 
strands  of  straw  to  the  cover,  on  which  it  crowed 
lustily.  Their  mission  was  an  honourable  one, 
•carrying  the  honoured  dead  to  its  last  bed  of  rest 
eternal ;  for  this  dead  man  had  secured  the  fulfilment 
■of  the  highest  in  human  destiny — to  have  his  bones 
buried  near  the  scene  of  his  youth,  near  his  home. 
This  is  a  simple  custom  the  Chinese  cherish  and 
reverence,  of  highest  honour  to  the  dead  and  of  no 
mean  value  to  the  living.  To  the  dead,  because  buried 
near  the  home  of  his  fathers  he  would  not  be  subject 
lo  those  delusive  temptations  in  the  future  state  of 
that  confused  and  complex  life ;  to  the  living, 
because  it  gave  work  to  a  dozen  men  for  several 
days,  and  enabled  them  to  have  a  good  time  at 
the  expense  of  the  departed.  A  perpetual  and  ex- 
cruciatingly unmusical  chant,  in  keeping  with  the 
occasion's  sadness,  rent  the  mountain  air,  inter- 
rupted only  when  the  bearers  lowered  the  coffin  and 
left  the  remains  of  the  great  dead  on  a  pair  of  trestles 
in  the  roadway,  whilst  they  drank  to  his  happiness 
above  and  smoked  tobacco  which  the  relatives  had 
given  them.  Once  this  heaper-up  of  Chinese  merit* 
was  dumped  unceremoniously  on  the  turf  while  the 

*  "  Heaping  up  merit  "  is  one  of  the  elementary  practices  of 
■Chinese  rehgious  life. 

266 


V^UN-NAN-FU   TO    TALI-FU. 

headman  entered  into  a  blackguarding  contest  with 
one  of  the  fellows  who  was  alleged  to  be  constantly 
out  of  step  with  his  brethren,  because  he  was  a  much 
smaller  man.  The  gaffer  gave  him  a  bit  of  a  drubbing 
ior  his  insolence. 

Rain  came  on  at  Chennan-chou,  a  small  town  of 
about  three  hundred  houses,  where  I  sought  shelter 
in  the  last  house  of  the  street.  The  householder,  a 
shrivelled,  goitrous  humpback,  received  me  kindly, 
removed  his  pot  of  cabbage  from  the  fire  to  brew  for 
his  uninvited  guest,  and  showed  great  gratitude  (to 
such  an  extent  that  he  nearly  fell  into  the  fire  as  he 
moved  to  push  the  children  forward  towards  me) 
when  I  gave  a  few  cash  to  three  kiddies,  who  gaped 
open-mouthed  at  the  apparition  thus  found  un- 
expectedly before  their  parent's  hearth.  More  came 
in,  my  beneficent  attention  being  modestly  directed 
towards  them  ;  others  followed,  and  still  more,  and 
more,  whilst  the  man,  removing^from  his  mouth  his 
four-foot  pipe,  and  wiping  the  mouthpiece  with  his 
soiled  coat-sleeve  before  offering  it  to  me  to  smoke, 
smiled  as  I  distributed  more  cash. 

"  They  are  all  mine,"  he  said  cutely. 

Poor  fellow !  There  must  have  been  a  dozen 
nippers  there,  and  I  sighed  at  the  thought  of  what 
some  men  come  to  as  the  last  of  half  a  string  of  cash 
slipped  through  my  fingers,* 

*  Chennan-chou,  which  stands  at  a  height  of  6,500  feet,  has 
been  visited  again  since  by  myself.  My  caravan  consisted  on 
this  occasion  of  two  ponies  (one  I  was  riding),  two  cooUes,  a 
servant,  and  myself.  As  we  got  to  the  archway  in  the  middle  of 
the  street  leading  to  the  busy  part  of  the  town,  my  animal  nearly 
landed  me  into  the  gutter,  and  the  other  horse  ran  into  a  neigh- 
bouring house,  both  frightened  by  crackers  which  were  being 
fired  around  a  man  who  was  bumping  his  head  on  the  ground  in 
iront  of  an  ancestral  tablet,  brought  into  the  street  for  the 
purpose.  A  horrid  din  made  the  air  turbulent.  I  sought  refuge 
in  the  nearest  house,  tying  my  ponies  up  to  the  windows,  and 
was    most    hospitably  received    as   a  returned    prodigal    by  a 

267 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

Outside  the  town,  on  the  lee  side  of  a  triumphal 
arch — erected,  maybe,  to  the  memory  of  one  of  the 
virtuous  widows  of  the  district — I  untied  my  pukai 
and  donned  my  mackintosh  and  wind-cap.  A  gale 
blew,  my  fingers  ached  with  the  cold,  breathing  was 
rendered  difficult  by  the  rarefied  air.  As  we  were 
thus  engaged  and  discussing  the  prospects  of  the 
storm,  yelling  from  under  a  gigantic  straw  hat,  a 
fellow  said — 

"  Suan  liao  "  ("  not  worth  reckoning,")  "only  five 
more  li  to  Sha-chiao-kai." 

We  had  thirty  li  to  do.  Such  is  the  idea  of  distance 
in  Yiin-nan.* 

well-disposed  old  man  and  his  courtly  helpmeet.  The  genuineness 
of  the  hospitality  of  the  Chinese  is  as  strong  as  their  unfriendliness 
can  be  when  they  are  disposed  to  show  a  hostile  spirit  to  foreigners. 
Just  as  I  had  laid  up  for  dinner  the  din  stopped,  we  breathed 
gunpowder  smoke  instead  of  air,  everyone  from  the  head-bumping 
ceremony  came  around  me,  and  there  lingered  in  silent  admira- 
tion. My  boy  came  and  whispered,  quite  aloud  enough  for  all  to 
hear,  that  in  that  part  of  the  town  cooked  rice  could  not  be  bought, 
and  that  I  was  going  to  be  left  to  look  after  the  horses  and  the 
loads  whilst  the  men  went  away  to  feed.  He  advised  the  assem- 
bled crowd  that  if  they  valued  sound  physique  they  had  better 
keep  their  hands  off  my  gear  and  depart.  My  friendly  host 
shut  the  doors  and  windows,  with  the  exception  of  that  through 
which  I  watched  our  impedimenta,  and  at  once  commenced  good- 
natured  inquiry  into  my  past,  and  concerning  vicissitudes  of 
life  in  general.  Luckily,  I  was  able  to  give  the  old  man  good 
reason  for  congratulating  me  upon  my  ancestral  line,  my  own 
great  age,  the  number  of  my  wives  and  offshoots — mostly  "  little 
puppies  " — and  as  each  curious  caller  dropped  in  to  sip  tea,  so 
did  one  after  another  of  the  patriarchal  dignitaries  who  were 
responsible  for  the  human  product  then  entertaining  the  crowd 
come  vividly  before  the  imagination  of  the  company,  and  they 
were  graced  with  every  token  of  age  and  honour.  (Chinese  speak 
of  sons  as  "  little  puppies.") 

*  In  crossing  a  river  here  I  slipped,  and  from  my  pocket  there 
rolled  a  box  of  photographic  films,  and  in  reaching  over  to 
re-capture  it,  I  let  my  loaded  camera  fall  into  the  water.  I  was 
disappointed,  as  most  of  my  best  pictures  were  thus  (as  I  imagined) 
spoilt.  But  when  I  developed  at  Bhamo,  I  found  not  a  single 
film  damaged  by  water,  and  every  picture  was  a  success  from 
both  the  roll  in  the  tin  and  the  roll  in  the  camera.  It  is  a  tribute 
to  the  Eastman-Kodak  Company  Ltd.  that  their  non-curling 
films  will  stand  being  dipped  into  rivers  and  remain  unaffected. 
The  films  in  question  should  have  been  developed  six  months 
prior  to  the  date  of  my  exposure. — E.  J.  D. 

268 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

The  storm  did  not  come,  however,  and  my  men 
ever  after  reminded  me  to  keep  out  my  wind-cap 
and  my  mackintosh,  partly  to  Hghten  their  loads  of 
course,  and  partly  on  account  of  the  good  omen  it 
seemed  to  them  to  be. 


269 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Stampede  of  frightened  women.  To  the  Eagle  Nest.  An 
acrobatic  performance,  and  some  retaliation  at  the  author's 
expense.  Over  the  mountains  to  Pu-peng.  A  magnificent 
storm,  and  a  description.  In  a  "  rock  of  ages."  Hardiness 
of  my  comrades.  Early  morning  routine  and  some 
impressions.  Unspeakable  filth  of  the  Chinese.  Lolo 
people  of  the  district.  Physique  of  the  women.  Aspirations 
towards  Chinese  customs.  Skilless  building.  Mythological, 
anthropological,  craniological  and  antediluvian  disquisi- 
tions. At  Yiin-nan-t.  Flat  country.  Thriftless  humanity. 
To  Hungay.  A  day  of  days.  Traveller  in  bitter  cold 
unable  to  procure  food.  Fright  in  middle  night.  A  timely 
rescue.  Murder  of  a  bullock  on  my  doorstep.  Callous 
disposition  of  fellow-travellers .  Leaving  the  capital  of  an 
old-time  kingdom.  Bad  roads  and  good  men.  National 
virtue  of  unfailing  patience.  Human  consumption  of 
diseased  animals.  Minchia  at  Hungry.  Major  Davies 
and  the  Minchia.  Author's  differences  of  opinion.  In- 
creasing popularity  of  the  small  foot. 

But  the  storm  came  the  next  day,  as  we  were  on  our 
way  to  Pu-peng,  during  the  ninety  U  to  which  we 
passed  the  highest  point  on  this  journey.  By  name 
The  Eagle  Nest  Barrier  (Ting-wu-kwan),  this  elevated 
pass,  8,600  feet  above  the  level,  reached  after  a 
gradual  ascent  between  two  mountain  ranges,  was 
surmounted  after  a  couple  of  hours'  steep  climbing, 
where  rain  and  snow  had  made  the  paths  irritatingly 
slippery  and  the  task  most  laborious.  Although  the 
condition  of  the  road  was  enough  to  take  all  the  wind 
out  of  one's  sails,  the  subhmity  of  the  scenery  of  the 
dense  woods  which  clothed  the  mountains,  ex- 
quisitely pretty  ravines,  tumbling  waterfalls,  running 
rivulets  and  sparkling  brooks,  with  little  patches  of 
snow  hidden  away  in  the  maze  of  greens  of  every 

270 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

hue,  all  rendered  it  a  climb  less  tiring  than  the 
narrow  pathways  over  which  we  were  then  to  travel. 
Half-way  up  we  met  a  string  of  ponies,  and  I  under- 
went a  few  nervous  moments  until  they  had  passed 
in  the  twenty-inch  road — a  slight  tilt,  a  slip,  a 
splutter,  probably  a  yell,  and  I  should  have  dropped 
500  feet  wi1;hout  a  bump. 

As  we  went  along  together,  just  before  reaching 
this  hill,  we  saw  women  carrying  bags  of  rice.  They 
saw  us  too.  One  passed  me  safely,  but  with  fear.  The 
others,  carelessly  dropping  their  burdens,  scampered 
off,  afraid  of  their  Uves  ;  and  when  one  of  my  soldiers 
(whose  sense  of  humour  was  on  a  par  with  my  own 
when  as  a  boy  I  used  to  stick  butterscotch  drops  on 
the  bald  head  of  my  Sunday  School  teacher,  and  bend 
pins  for  small  boys  to  sit  on  and  rise  from)  shouted  tO' 
them,  they  dived  straight  as  a  die  over  the  hedge 
into  a  submerged  rice-field,  and  made  a  sorry  spec- 
tacle with  their  "  Hly  "  feet  and  pale  blue  trousers,, 
covered  with  the  thin  mud.  In  struggling  to  get 
away,  one  of  them,  the  silly  creature,  went  sprawHng 
on  all  fours  in  the  slime,  and  with  only  the  imperfect 
footing  possible  to  her  with  her  little  stumps,*  she 
would  have  been  submerged,  had  not  the  man  who 
had  frightened  her,  at  my  bidding,  gone  to  drag  her 
out.  As  it  was,  they  looked  anything  but  beautiful 
with  their  wet  and  muddy  garments  clinging  tightly 
to  their  bodies,  and  betraying  every  curve  of  their 
not  unbeautiful  figures.  One  of  the  women,  a 
comely  damsel  of  some  twenty  summers,  did  not 
jump  into  the  field,  but  lay  flat  on  the  ground 
behind  some  bushes,  thereby  hoping  to  get  out  of 
sight,  and  now  came  forward  with  amorous  glances. 
We,  however,  sent  them  on  their  way,  and  I  will  lay 

*  See  Appendix  L. 
271 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

my  life  that  they  will  not  "  scoot  "  at  the  sight  of  the 
next  foreigner. 

And  now  we  are  at  the  "  Nest."  Many  travellers 
have  made  remarks  upon  this  place,  where  I  was 
waited  upon  by  a  shrivelled,  shambling  specimen  of 
manhood,  whose  wife — in  contrast  to  her  kind  in 
China — seemed  to  rule  house  and  home,  bed  and 
board.  Whilst  we  were  there,  a  Chinaman,  bound  on 
the  downward  journey,  endeavoured  to  mount  his 
mule  at  the  very  moment  the  animal  was  reaching 
out  for  a  blade  of  straw.  As  he  swung  his  leg  across 
the  mule  took  another  step  forward,  and  the  rider 
fell  bodily  with  an  enormous  bump  into  the  lap  of 
one  of  my  coohes,  upsetting  him  and  his  bowl  of 
tea  over  his  trousers  and  my  own.  I  could  not 
suppress  hearty  approval  of  this  acrobatic  incident. 

But  the  end  was  not  yet. 

I  sat  on  one  end  of  one  of  those  narrow  forms,  and 
this  same  coohe  sat  on  the  other.  He  rose  up 
suddenly,  reached  over  for  the  common  salt-pot, 
and  I  came  off — with  the  multitude  of  alfresco  diners 
laughing  at  this  smart  retaliation  until  their  chock- 
full  mouths  emitted  the  grains  of  rice  they  chewed. 

After  that  I  cleared  off.  Descending  through  a 
fertile  valley,  from  the  bottom  there  loomed  up- 
wards higher  mountains,  looking  black  and  dismal, 
with  clouds  black  and  dismal  keeping  them  company. 
We  had  now  to  cross  the  undulating  ground  still 
separating  us  from  Pu-peng.  The  early  portion  of 
the  ground  was  something  hke  Clifton  Downs, 
something  like  Dartmoor.  The  country  was  poor, 
and  the  people  barely  put  themselves  out  to  boil 
water  for  chance  travellers. 

The  storm  broke  suddenly.  From  the  shelter  of  a 
hollowed  rock  I  watched  it  all. 


272 


Wayside  tiffin  place  in  Szecliwan. 
Met  with  every  ten  ii. 


Wayside  tiffin  place  in  Yun-nan. 
8,500  feet  above  sea  level. 


A   wayside  snack  in   Yiin-uau, 


Group  of  Chinese  Jeasiing  over  the  graves  of  I  heir  ancestors. 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

Over  the  submerged  plain  and  the  bare  hills  the 
blackness  was  as  of  night.  Red  earth  without  the 
sun  looked  brown,  brown  looked  black,  and  the  trees, 
swaying  helplessly  before  the  raging  fury  of  the  gale, 
seemed  struck  by  death.  Lightning  continued  its 
electrical  vividity  of  fork-like  greenish  white  among 
the  heavy  clouds,  drooping  threateningly  from  the 
hill-tops  to  the  darkened  valleys  below,  laden  still 
with  their  waiting,  unshed  deluge.  Through  a  nariow 
incision  in  the  cruel  clouds  the  sun  peeped  out  with  a 
nervous  timidity,  and  a  tiny  patch  over  yonder,  in  a 
flash  illuminated  with  gold  and  purple,  across  which 
the  lightning  danced  in  heavenly  rivalry,  displayed 
the  magic  touch  of  the  Artist  of  the  skies.  Then  came 
a  rainbow  of  sweetest  multi-colour,  of  a  splendour 
glorious  and  exquisite,  delicate  as  the  breath  from 
paradise,  stretching  its  majestic  archbow  athwart  the 
waning  gloom  from  range  to  range.  As  one  drank 
in  the  glimpses  of  that  dark  corner  in  this  peculiar 
fairyland,  a  mighty  peal  of  magnificent,  stentorian 
clashing  broke  finally  upon  me,  and  heaven's  elec- 
tricity again  flitted  fearfully  over  the  earth,  aslant, 
upwards,  downwards,  upwards  again,  disappearing 
over  the  unmoved  hills  like  a  thousand  tortured  souls 
fleeing  from  Dante's  Hades.  And  here  I  sit  on,  in 
that  veritable  "  rock  of  ages"  cleft  forme,  glad  that 
no  human  touch  save  that  of  my  own  mean  clay,  that 
no  human  voice  came  between  me  and  the  voice  of 
that  Infinite  beyond.  I  seemed  to  have  been  stand- 
ing on  the  verge  of  another  world,  another  great  un- 
known. The  heavens  raged  and  the  thunders  thereof 
roared,  and  the  wild  wind  hissed  and  moaned  and 
wailed,  the  hopeless  wail  of  a  lonely,  tonnented  soul. 
The  cold  was  intense,  and  through  it  all  I  sat  drenched 
to  the  skin. 


273 
19 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

On  the  bleak  mountain  thus  I  was  the  pitifuUest 
atom  of  loneliest  humanity,  yet  albeit  felt  no  loneli- 
ness. The  face  of  the  earth  frowned  in  angry  fury, 
the  awfulness  of  the  raging  elements  dwarfed  all  else 
to  utter  annihilation.  But  even  at  such  a  time, 
coming  all  too  seldom  in  the  lives  of  most  of  us,  when 
standing  in  some  remote  spot  which  stills  tells  forth 
the  story  of  the  world's  youth,  one's  inmost  nature 
thrills  with  a  sense  of  unison  with  it  all  beyond 
human  expression.  All  was  so  grand,  inspiring  one 
with  an  awe  beyond  one's  comprehension,  a  peculiar 
dread  of  one's  owti  earthly  insignificance.  These 
pictures,  graven  in  one's  memory  with  the  strong 
pencil  of  our  common  mother,  are  indelible,  yet 
quite  beyond  expression.  As  in  our  own  souls  we 
cannot  frame  in  words  our  deepest  life  emotions,  so 
as  we  penetrate  into  the  depths  of  that  kindly  common 
mother  of  us  all  we  find  human  words  the  same  utterly 
futile  channel  of  expression.  To  have  our  souls 
tuned  to  this  silent  eloquence  of  Nature,  to  catch  the 
sweetness  of  those  wind-swept,  heaven-directed 
mountains,  to  understand  the  unspoken  messages  of 
those  rushing  rivers  and  those  gigantic  gorges,  to 
feel  the  heart-beat  of  Nature  and  her  beauty  in 
perfect  harmony  with  all  that  is  best  within  us,  we 
must  be  silent,  undisturbed,  preferably  alone.  This 
is  not  flowery  sentiment — it  is  what  every  true 
lover  of  old  and  lovely  Nature  would  feel  in  Western 
China,  yet  still  unspoiled  by  the  taint  of  man's 
absorbing  stream  of  civilisation.  And  in  the  stress 
of  modem  life,  and  the  progress  of  man's  monopolis- 
ation of  the  earth  on  which  he  hves,  it  is  beautiful 
to  some  of  us,  of  whom  it  may  be  said  the  highest 
state  of  inward  happiness  comes  from  sohtary  medi- 
tation in  unperturbed  loneliness  under  the  broad 

274 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

expanse  of  heaven,  to  know  that  there  are  stiJl  some 
spots  of  isolation  where  human  foot  has  never  turned 
the  clay,  and  where,  out  of  sight  and  sound  of  fellow 
mortals,  we  may  even  for  a  time  shake  off  the 
violating,  unnatural  fetters  of  a  harassing  Western 
life. 

Soon  it  seemed  as  if  a  silken  cord  had  suddenly  been 
severed,  and  I  had  been  dragged  from  a  world  of 
sweet  infinitude   down   to   a  sphere   mundane   and 

everyday,  to  something  I  had  known  before 

"  .  .  .  Or  what  is  Nature  ?  Ha !  why  do  I  not 
name  thee  God  ?  Art  thou  not  the  '  Living  Gar- 
ment of  God  '  ?  O  Heaven,  is  it  in  very  deed.  He, 
then,  that  ever  speaks  through  thee ;  that  lives  and 
loves  in  thee,  that  lives  and  loves  in  me  ?  "  * 

I  heard  the  crack  of  the  bamboo  and  the  patter  of 
feet  in  the  sodden,  sUppery  pathway,  and  I  knew 
my  men  were  come.  Crawling  out  from  my  rock, 
I  descended  again  to  common  things,  having  ta 
listen  to  the  disgusting  talk  of  my  Chinese 
followers,  though  a  very  slender  vocabulary  saved 
me  from  losing  entirely  the  memory  of  that, 
great  picture  then  passing  away.  The  sun  shone 
tlirough  the  clouds,  which  had  given  place  again  to 
blue,  the  pervading  blackness  of  a  few  moments 
before  had  disappeared,  and  with  the  sinking  sun 
we  descended  thoughtfully  to  the  town.  The  hill  is. 
solid  sandstone,  and  the  uneven  ruts  made  by  the 
daily  procession  of  ponies  were  transformed  into  a 
network  of  tiny  streams. 

That  my  comrades  were  drenched  to  the  skin  gave 
them  no  thought ;  they  turned  to  immediately,  while 
I  dived  hurriedly  to  the  bottom  of  my  box  and  gulped 
down   quinine.     They   sat   around   and   drank   hot 

*  Carlyle,  Sartor  Resartus. 
275 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

water,  holding  forth  with  eloquence  beyond  their 
wont  on  the  general  advantages,  naturally  and  super- 
naturally,  of  their  native  city  of  Tong-ch'uan-fu. 
And  well  they  might,  for  I  know  no  prettier  spot  in 
the  whole  of  Western  China. 

Fifty  men — coolies  who  were  carrying  general 
merchandise  in  all  directions,  and  who  had  taken 
shelter  in  the  large  inn  I  stayed  at — rose  with 
me  the  next  morning.  As  I  ate  my  morning 
meal,  spluttering  the  rice  over  the  floor  as  I 
tried  vainly  to  control  my  chop-sticks  with  frost- 
nipped  fingers,  they  went  through  the  filthy 
round  of  early  morning  routine.  Squatting  about 
with  their  dirty  face-rags,  and  a  half-pint  of  greasy 
water  in  their  brass  receptacle  shaped  hke  the 
soup-plate  of  civiHsation,  and  leaving  upon  their 
necks  the  traces  of  their  swills,  they  wiped  the  dirt 
into  their  hair,  and  considered  they  had  washed 
themselves.  Men  would  emerge  from  their  rooms, 
fully  dressed,  with  the  dishclout  in  one  hand  and 
the  hand-basin  in  the  other — on  the  way  to  their 
morning  tub.  Oh,  the  filth,  the  unspeakable  filth 
of  these  people !  Would  that  the  Chinese  would 
emulate  the  cleanliness  of  the  Japs,  though  even 
that  I  would  question.  In  several  years  in  the 
Orient  I  have  not  yet  come  across  the  cleanhness  in 
any  race  of  people  to  be  compared  with  that  cleanli- 
ness which  in  England  is  next  to  godliness. 

The  people  of  Pu-peng  were  pleased  to  see  me. 
They  hurried  about  obligingly  to  get  food  for  man 
and  beast,  and  the  womankind,  poor  but  light- 
hearted,  cracked  suggestive  jokes  with  my  men 
with  the  utmost  freedom. 

In  this  town  there  are  many  Lolo — it  might  be 
said  that  the  entire  population  is  of  Lolo  origin, 

276 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

although  had  I  suggested  to  any  particular  inhabi- 
tant that  this  was  a  fact  he  would  probably  have 
taken  keen  offence,  and  things  might  have  gone 
badly  with  me.  With  the  men  it  is  most  difficult  to 
tell — there  is  little  difference  between  the  Han  ren 
and  the  tribesman.  But  the  difference  is  often  most 
marked  in  respect  to  the  women.  The  Chinese 
woman  has  a  considerably  fairer  skin  than  the 
female  of  Lolo  descent,  and  her  customs  and  manners, 
apart  from  the  distinct  colloquial  accent,  are  quite 
evident  as  pretty  sure  proof  of  distinction  of  race. 
After  the  Lolo  have  mingled  with  the  Chinese 
for  a  few  years,  however,  it  is  quite  difficult  to- 
differentiate  between  them,  as  most  of  the  Lola 
women  now  speak  Chinese  (in  this  town  I  did  not 
hear  any  language  foreign  to  the  Chinese  language),. 
and  a  good  many  of  the  men  are  sufficiently  educated 
to  read  the  Chinese  character  even  if  they  do  not 
write  it.  The  forward  racial  condition  of  the  Lola 
people  in  this  district  is  far  greater  than  that  of  the 
people  of  the  same  tribe  to  the  west  of  Tali-fu,  and  in 
latitudes  where  their  language  and  customs  of  life 
and  dress  are  more  or  less  maintained.  The  women 
are  generally  of  better  physique  than  the  Chinese, 
principally  on  account  of  the  fact  that  their  work  is. 
almost  exclusively  outdoor;  but  as  they  begin  to 
copy  the  Chinese,  and  live  a  more  sedentary  life,  this 
fine  physique  will  probably  gradually  disappear.  A 
good  many  already  bind  their  feet. 

When  I  came  out  in  the  early  morning  the  ther- 
mometer was  twenty  degrees  below  zero,  and  my  nose 
was  red  and  without  feeling.  Feng-mao*  and  great 
coat  were  required,  but  I  was  totally  oblivious  of  the 

*  Wind-cap,  a  long  Chinese  wadded  hat  which  reaches  over 
one's  head  and  down  over  the  shoulders,  tied  under  the  chin, 
with  ribbons. — E.  J.  D. 

277 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

liour's  stiff  climbing  awaiting  me  immediately  out- 
side the  town,  to  reach  the  highest  point  in  which 
bathed  me  in  perspiration  as  if  I  had  played  three 
sets  of  tennis  in  the  tropics. 

Mountains  were  wild  and  barren,  with  nothing  in 
them  to  enable  one  to  forget  in  natural  beauty  the 
fatigues  of  a  toilsome  ascent.  Villages  came  now 
and  again  in  sight,  stretched  out  at  the  extremity  of 
the  plain  before  my  eyes,  with  their  white  gables,  red 
walls,  and  black  tiled  roofs,  but  during  the  day  we 
passed  through  two  only.  The  first  was  a  Uttle 
place  where  decay  would  have  been  absolute  had  it 
not  been  for  the  likin*  flag,  which  enables  "  squeezes  " 
"to  be  extorted  ruthlessly  from  the  muleteer  and 
conveyed  to  the  pockets  of  the  prospering  customs 
agent.  It  boasted  only  ten  or  twelve  tumbling 
lean-to  tenements,  where  my  sympathy  went  out 
to  the  half-dozen  physical  wrecks  of  men  who  came 
slowly  and  stared  long,  and  wondered  at  the  com- 
monest article  of  my  meagre  impedimenta.  They 
seemed  poorer  and  lower  down  the  human  scale 
than  any  I  had  yet  seen.  On  one  of  the  ragged 
garments  worn  by  a  man  of  about  twenty-five  I 
counted  no  less  than  thirty-four  patches  of  different 
shapes,  sizes  and  materials,  hieroglyphically  and 
skillessly  thrown  together  to  hide  his  sore-strewn 
back  ;  but  still  his  brown,  unwashed  flesh  was  visible 
in  many  places. 

Looking  upon  them,  one  did  not  like  to  think 
that  these  beings  were  men,  men  with  passions 
like  to  one's  own,  for  all  the  interests,  real  and 
imaginary,  all  the  topics  which  should  expand  the 
mind  of  man,  and  connect  him  in  sympathy  with 

*  Likin,  as  everyone  knows,  is  custom  duty.  All  along  the 
main  roads  of  China  one  meets  likin  stations,  distinguished  by 
the  flag  at  the  entrance. — E.  J.  D. 

278 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

general  existence,  were  crushed  in  the  absorbing 
considerations  of  how  rice  was  to  be  procured  for 
their  famihes  of  diseaseful  brats.  They  had  no 
brains,  these  men  ;  or  if  Heaven  had  thus  o'er- 
blessed  them,  they  did  not  exercise  them  in  their 
industry — their  coarse,  rough  hands  alone  gained 
food  for  the  day's  feeding.  And  these  mud-roofed, 
mud-sided  dwelhngs — these  were  their  homes,  to 
me  worse  homes  than  none  at  all.  In  their  archi- 
tecture not  even  a  single  idea  could  be  traced — 
the  Chinaman  here  had  proceeded  as  if  by  merest 
accident.  All  I  could  think  as  I  returned  their 
wondering  glances  was  that  their  world  must  be 
very,  very  old.  But  I  have  no  time  or  space  to  talk 
of  them  here.  To  throw  more  than  a  cursory  glance 
at  them  would  lead  me  into  interminable  disquisi- 
tions of  a  mythological,  anthropological,  craniological, 
and  antediluvian  nature  for  which  one  would  not 
find  universal  approval  among  his  readers.  To  those 
who  would  study  such  questions  I  say,  "  Fall  to  !  " 
There  is  enough  scope  for  a  lifetime  to  bring  into 
light  the  primeval  element  so  strangely  woven  into 
the  lives  of  these  people. 

At  Yiin-nan-i  bunting  and  weird  street  decoration 
made  the  place  hideous  in  my  eyes.  The  crowded 
town  was  making  considerable  ado  about  some 
expected  official.  I  saw  none,  more  than  a  courteous 
youth — to  whom,  of  course,  I  was  quite  unknown 
and  deaf  and  dumb — who  graciously  shifted  goods 
and  chattels  from  the  inn's  best  room  to  hand  it  over 
to  me  for  my  occupation.  With  due  tact  and  some 
excitability,  I  protested  vigorously  against  his 
coming  out.  He  insisted.  Smiling  upon  him  with 
grave  benignity,  I  said  that  I  would  take  a  smaller 
room,  and  gave  orders  to  that  effect  to  my  man, 

279 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

adding  that  my  whole  sense  of  right  and  justice  to- 
wards fellow-travellers  revolted  against  such  self- 
sacrifice  on  his  part.  He  still  insisted.  SmiHng 
again,  this  time  the  timid  smile  of  the  commoner 
looking  up  into  the  face  of  the  great,  I  allowed 
myself  reluctantly  to  be  pushed  bodily  into  the 
best  apartment. 

This  was  my  intention  from  the  first.  Although 
unable  to  speak  his  language,  I  allowed  the  Chinaman 
to  imagine  that  I  was  well  grounded  in  the  absurdities 
of  his  national  etiquette ;  whilst  he,  observing  too  the 
outrageous  routine  of  common  politeness,  probably 
went  away  swearing  that  he  had  been  turned  out. 
He  had  cut  off  his  nose  to  spite  his  face. 

I  cannot  truthfully  deny,  however,  that  the 
fellow  was  very  kind,  but  he  would  persist  in  the 
belief  that  it  was  an  impossibility  for  me  to  tell  the 
truth.  Later,  pointing  at  me  and  eyeing  me  up  and 
down  as  I  shaved  in  the  twilight,  he  sneered,  "  Eng- 
leeshman  !  Engleeshman ! "  and  scooting  with  an 
armful  of  clothing,  small  pots  of  eatables,  official 
documents  and  other  sundries,  told  me  point-blank 
that  he  did  not  beheve  that  such  a  noble  person 
could  not  speak  such  a  contemptible  language  as 
Chinese. 

Seeing  no  official,  then,  I  presumed  I  was  their 
man.  Whilst  I  fed  slowly  on  my  rice  and  cabbage 
in  a  small  earth-floor  room,  with  my  nose  as  near  as 
convenient  to  my  oil  lamp  to  get  a  little  warmth,  the 
discomfort  of  Chinese  hfe  was  forced  upon  me,  and  I 
imagined  I  was  having  a  good  time.  I  was  the  best 
off  in  the  inn  by  far  ;  the  others  must  have  been 
colder,  certainly  had  worse  food  to  eat,  and  yet  to 
me  it  was  all  the  height  of  utmost  cheerlessness. 

From  a  hamlet  opposite  the  town,  where  I  sat 

280 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

down  by  the  fire  exhausted  in  an  old  woman's  shaky 
dwelling,  and  fed  on  aged  sardines  and  hot  rice 
(atrocious  mixture),  there  is  a  plain  extending  for 
twenty  li  to  Yiin-nan-i — flat  as  country  in  the  Fen 
district.  The  road  was  good  (in  wet  weather,  how- 
ever, it  must  be  terrible) ,  and  I  would  drive  a  motor- 
car across,  were  it  not  for  the  15-in.  ruts  which 
disfigure  its  surface.  And  I  know  a  man  who  would 
do  this  even,  despite  the  ruts  :  he  takes  a  delight  in 
running  over  dogs  and  small  boys,  damaging  rick- 
shaws, bumping  into  bullock-carts,  and  so  on — he 
would  have  done  it  with  hveliest  freedom. 

But  what  poverty  there  was  !  What  women  ! 
What  children  !  With  barely  an  exception,  the 
women  had  faces  ground  by  want  and  bare  necessity, 
in  which  every  cheerful  and  sympathetic  hneament 
had  been  effaced  by  lifelong  slavery  and  misery.  In 
the  bitter  cold  they,  women  and  children,  crouched 
round  a  scanty  fir-wood  firing,  not  enough  even  to^ 
keep  alive  their  natural  heat.  One  long  pitiful  sight 
of  thriftless  poverty. 

To  Hungay  was  a  fearful  day.  Little  to  eat  could  I 
procure,  and  the  cold  gave  me  a  lusty  ox's  appetite. 
To  me  a  bellyful  came  as  a  windfall. 

At  last  we  sat  down  by  the  roadside  at  one  small 
table,  bearing  the  test  of  age,  rickety  and  worm- 
eaten.  We  gathered  like  hogs  at  their  troughs,  with 
the  household  hog  scratching  at  our  feet.  I  grew 
impatient  and  querulous  over  constant  culinary  dis- 
appointment. I  longed  not  for  the  heaped-up  board 
of  the  pampered  and  luxurious,  I  wanted  food. 
Indigent  man  was  I,  whose  dietetical  elegancies  had 
been  forgotten,  a  man  with  ravenous  desires  seeking 
sustenance,    not    reUshes ;    the   means  of   Hfe,   not 


281 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the  means  of  pampering  the  carcase ;  I  wanted 
food. 

And  here  I  had  it.     The  hungry  were  to  be  fed. 

It  was  a  foul  orgy,  a  gruesome  spectacle,  a 
horrible  picture  of  the  gluttony  of  famished  men.  This 
meal  conjured  up  visions  of  the  "most  unlovely  of  the 
functions."  We  fed  on  mien,  that  long,  greasy, 
.  grimy ,''slipper}%  slimy  string  of  boneless  white — I  see 
it  now  !  And  the  half-done  tin  of  sardines  set 
before  me  too,  the  broken  stools  in  the  thatch-worn 
shed,  the  dismantled  hearth,  the  muddy  earthen 
floor,  the  haggard,  hungry  villains — I  see  them  all 
again.* 

*  I  passed  this  spot  a  month  or  so  afterwards,  and  am  con- 
vinced that  at  the  time  I  wrote  the  above  there  must  have 
been  something  radically  wrong  with  my  liver.  Had  it  been  in 
Killarney  in  summer,  nothing  could  have  been  more  entrancing 
than  the  two  lakes  midway  between  Yiin-nan-'i  and  Hungay. 
Patches  of  light  green  vegetation,  interspersed  with  brown-red 
houses,  skirting  the  lake-shore  in  pleasant  contrast  to  the  green 
of  the  water,  which,  bathed  in  soft  sunshine,  lapped  their  walls 
in  endless  restlessness.  Of  that  delicate  blue  which  is  indescrib- 
ably beautiful,  the  morning  sky  looked  douTi  tranquilly  upon  the 
undulating  hills  of  grey  and  brown,  which  seemed  to  hem  in  and 
guard  a  very  fairyland.  Geomancers  of  the  place  did  not  go 
wrong  when  they  suggested  the  overlooking  hill-sides  as  suitable 
resting-places  for  the  departed.  All  was  ancient  and  primitive, 
yet  simple  and  glorious,  and  as  one  of  my  followers  called  my 
attention  to  the  telegraph  wires,  I  was  struck  by  the  fact  that  this 
alone  stood  as  the  solitary  element  of  what  we  in  the  West  call 
civilisation.  Yet  nothing  bore  traces  of  gross  uncivilisation  ;  the 
people,  hard  workers  albeit,  were  happy  and  quite  content,  with 
their  slow-moving  caravan,  which  we  would,  if  we  could,  soon 
displace  for  the  railway  engine.  Ploughmen  with  their  buffaloes 
and  their  biblical  ploughshare,  raked  over  the  red  ground  ; 
-women,  with  babies  on  their  backs,  picked  produce  already  ripe  ; 
children  played  roundabout,  and  those  old  enough  helped  their 
fathers  in  the  fields  ;  coolies  bustled  along  with  exchanges  of 
-merchandise  with  neighbouring  villages,  quite  content  if  but  a 
couple  of  meals  each  day  were  earned  and  eaten  ;  the  official,  the 
ruler  of  these  peaceful  people,  passed  with  old-time  pomp — not 
in  a  modern  carriage,  not  in  a  modern  saloon,  but  in  the  same 
way  as  did  his  ancestors  back  in  the  dim  ages,  in  a  sedan-chair 
carried  by  men.  There  was  plenty  of  everything — enough  for 
all — but  all  had  to  contribute  to  its  getting.  There  was  no 
greed,  their  few  wants  were  easily  satisfied,  and  here,  as  every- 
where in  my  journeyings  I  have  noticed  it  to  be  the  case  among 
"the  common  people,  there  was  no  desire  to  get  rich  and  absorb 

282 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

It  should,  however,  be  said  that  I  went  away  from 
the  main  road  over  a  range  of  hills  where  nobody 
lives.  Had  I  kept  to  the  "  ta  lu  "  food  would  have 
been  quite  easy  to  get. 

To  Hungay  was  given  the  honour  of  entertaining 
me  over  the  Sunday,  a  pleasant  rest  after  a  week  of 
arduous  and  exhausting  walking.  I  arrived  late  at 
night,  and  the  old  town's  rough  streets  were  bathed 
in  a  silver  shower  of  moonbeams,  the  air  was  cold  and 
frosty,  little  groups  of  the  curious  came  to  the  doors 
of  their  dwellings,  laughing  sarcastically,  despite 
their  own  poverty,  at  the  distinguished  traveller 
thus  coming  upon  them. 

wealth.  They  wanted  to  hve,  to  learn  to  labour  as  little  as  the 
growth  of  food  supplies  demanded,  to  become  fathers  and  mothers, 
and,  to  their  minds,  to  get  the  most  out  of  life.  And  who  will 
contradict  it  ?  They  do  not  see  with  the  eyes  of  the  West ;  we 
do  not,  we  cannot,  see  with  their  eyes.  But  surely  the  living  of 
this  simple  life,  the  same  as  it  was  in  the  beginning,  has  a  good 
deal  in  it;  it  is  not  uncivilisation,  not  barbarism,  and  the  fair- 
minded  traveller  in  China  can  come  to  but  one  opinion,  even  in 
the  midst  of  all  the  conflicting  emotions  which  result  from  his  own 
aipbringing,  that  we  could,  if  we  would,  learn  many  a  good  lesson 
from  the  old-time  life  of  the  Celestial  in  his  own  country. 

Yet  these  are  the  very  people  who  may  jostle  us  harshly  later 
■on  in  the  racial  struggle. 

I  am  not  suggesting  that  when  the  Chinaman  adopts  the  cult 
of  the  West,  and  comes  into  general  contact  with  it — and  I 
believe  that  I  am  right  in  saying  that  this  is  the  desire,  generally 
speaking,  of  the  whole  of  the  enlightened  classes — he  continues 
with  his  few  wants.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  does  not.  He  is  as 
extravagant,  and  perhaps  more  so,  than  the  most  of  us.  I  have 
seen  Straits  Chinese  waste  at  the  gaming  tables  in  their  gorgeous 
clubs  as  much  in  one  night  as  some  European  residents  handle 
in  one  year,  and  he  is  quick  to  get  his  motor-car,  his  horses  and 
carriages,  and  endless  other  ornaments  of  wealth.  So  that  if 
progress  in  the  course  of  the  evolution  of  nations  means  that  the 
Chinaman  too  will  demand  all  that  the  European  now  demands, 
and  will  cease  to  find  satisfaction  in  the  existing  conditions  of 
his  life  in  the  new  goal  towards  which  he  is  moving,  and  if  he,  in 
course  of  time,  should  increase  the  cost  of  living  per  head  to  equal 
that  of  the  Westerner,  then  he  will  lose  a  good  deal  of  the  advan- 
tage he  now  undoubtedly  has  in  the  struggle  for  racial  supremacy. 
But  if,  gradually  taking  advantage  of  all  in  religion,  in  science,  in 
literature,  in  art,  in  modern  naval  and  military  equipment  and 
skill,  and  all  that  has  made  nations  great  and  made  for  real 
progress  in  the  West,  he  were  also  to  continue  his  present  hardy 
irugality  in  living — which  is  not  a  tenth  as  costly  in  proportion 

283 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

In  marked  contrast  to  this  outside  animation  were 
the  happenings  at  the  inn  which  gave  me  shelter. 
Business  was  bad.  Three  undistinguished  travellers 
— coolies  with  loads — and  myself  and  men  made  up 
the  meagre  total  of  paying  guests.  This  was  the 
reason  why  it  was  chosen  for  me,  for  peace  and 
quiet.  Quiet  had  been  forced  upon  the  household, 
so  I  was  told,  by  the  death  by  fits  of  a  haughty  and 
resolute  lady;  and  now  that  the  night  had  fallen 
and  we  had  all  had  our  rice,  the  deep  hush — or  its 
equivalent  in  Cathay,  at  all  events — seemed  likely 
to  be  unbroken  until  a  new  day  should  dawn.  My 
room  here  had  a  verandah  overlooking  a  back  court, 

to  that  of  the  Occident — then  his  advantage  in  entering  upon 
the  conflict  among  the  nations  for  ultimate  supremacy  would 
be  undoubted,  immeasurable. 

The  question  is,  Will  he  ? 

If  he  will,  then  the  Occident  has  much  to  fear.  China,  going' 
ahead  throughout  the  Empire  as  she  is  at  the  present  moment  in 
certain  parts,  will  in  course  of  time  (as  is  only  fair  and  natural  ta 
expect)  have  an  army  greater  in  numbers  than  is  possible  to  any 
European  power,  and  her  food-bill  will  be  two-thirds  lower  per 
head  per  fighting  man.  Subsequently,  granting  that  China  fulfils 
our  fears,  and  becomes  as  great  a  fighting  power  as  military 
experts  declare  she  will,  even  in  our  generation,  by  virtue  of 
her  numbers  alone,  apart  from  phenomenal  powers  of  endurance, 
which  as  every  writer  on  China  and  her  people  is  agreed,  is. 
excelled  by  no  other  race  on  earth,  she  would  be  able  to  dictate 
terms  to  the  West.  But,  again,  will  she  ?  Will  the  people  con- 
tinue to  live  as  they  are  living  ? 

I  personally  believe  that  the  Chinaman  will  not.  I  believe 
that  as  the  nation  progresses,  more  in  accordance  with  lines  of 
progress  laid  down  by  the  West,  so  will  her  wants  increase,  and 
consequent  expenses  of  life  become  greater.  The  Yun-nanese 
even  are  beginning  to  acknowledge  that  they  have  no  ordinary 
comforts.  In  other  parts  of  the  empire  the  people  are  already  be- 
ginning to  learn  what  comfort,  sanitation,  lighting,  and  general 
organisation  means — in  the  home,  in  the  city,  in  the  country, 
in  the  nation. 

And  they  are  learning  too  that  it  all  costs  money,  and  means, 
perhaps,  a  higher  state  of  social  life.  For  this  they  do  not  mind 
the  money.  They  are  not  going  half-way — they  are  going  to  be 
whole-hoggers.  And  when  in  the  future,  near  or  far,  we  shall 
find  them,  as  is  almost  inevitable,  able  to  compete  in  everything 
with  other  nations,  we  shall  find  that  they  have  not  been  success- 
ful in  learning  the  source  of  strength  without  having  absorbed 
also  some  of  the  weaknesses  ;  they  will  not  escape  the  vices,  evea 
if  they  learn  some  of  the  virtues  of  the  West. — E.  J.  D. 

284 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

and  here  I  sat  at  midnight,  unseen  by  anyone,  look- 
ing up  to  the  changeless  stars  in  an  unpitying  sky  ; 
and  as  I  stood  thus  there  blew  from  the  gates  of 
night  and  across  the  mountains  a  wind  that  made 
me  shiver  less  with  physical  cold  than  with  a  sense 
■of  loneliness  and  captivity.  For  on  to  my  verandah 
came  four  soldiers,  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  hour  of 
death  drew  nigh  ;  and  as  I  looked  again,  first  upon 
the  cloudswept  sky  and  upon  the  cold  and  steely 
glitter  of  the  stars,  and  then  again  at  the  soldiers 
with  their  guns,  I  turned  giddy,  shuddering  at  the 
darkness  and  the  loneliness,  and  with  a  nameless  fear 
lying  at  the  centre  of  life  like  a  lurking  shadow  of  an 
unknown,  unseen  foe. 

They  addressed  me,  but  I  knew  not  what  they 
said.  I  told  them  I  could  not  speak  Chinese, 
watched  the  quartet  form  a  circle,  and  talk  slowly 
and  lowly,  and  it  did  not  need  the  mind  of  a  prophet 
to  see  that  they  were  discussing  how  best  they  could 
capture  me.  Were  they  going  to  kill  me  ?  My 
boy  and  the  other  friends  I  had  in  the  place  were 
sleeping  blissfully,  ignorant  that  their  master  was  in 
such  trying  straits.  I  was  asked  my  name,  and  the 
inquirers,  not  over  civil,  were  told.  They  again 
asked  me  for  something,  I  knew  not  what,  probably 
for  my  passport.  I  had  none,  and  cursed  my  luck 
that  I  had  forgotten  to  pack  it  when  I  had  left 
Tong-ch'uan-fu. 

To  me  it  was  quite  evident  that  they  were  deciding 
my  destiny,  or  so  it  seemed  in  the  stillness  of  the  night. 
Looking  upwards,  I  wondered  whether  I  was  soon  to 
learn  the  secret  of  the  stars  and  sky,  and  those  men 
seemed  to  watch  the  secret  workings  of  my  [soul. 
Outside  the  wind  made  moan  continuously. 

Suddenly   my   door  opened  noisily,  a  light  was 

285 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

flashed  upon  us,  and  I  saw  the  bulky  form  of  the 
landlord.  Then  all  was  well.  Soon  one  of  my  men 
appeared,  and  explained  that  the  soldiers  were  on  their 
way  to  meet  an  ofhcial  who  was  coming  from  Tali-fu, 
that  their  instructions  were  that  they  would  meet  him 
at  Hungay.     They  took  me  for  the  "  gwan." 

So  my  end  was  not  yet.  But  now,  months  after- 
wards, when  I  stand  and  listen  to  the  wind  at  mid- 
night, there  seems  borne  to  me  in  every  sob  and  wail 
a  memory  of  that  hateful  night  and  the  four  soldiers 
with  their  guns. 

It  seemed  not  long  afterwards  that  I  was  awakened 
by  noises  on  the  doorstep.  Looking  out,  I  found 
a  bullock,  its  four  feet  tied  together  with  a  straw 
rope,  writhing  in  its  last  agonies  ;  the  butcher,  in 
his  hand  a  cruel  24-inch  bladed  knife  still  red  with 
blood,  smiling  the  smile  of  ironic  torture  as  he 
looked  down  upon  his  struggling  victim.  He 
straightway  skinned  the  animal  and  cut  up  the 
carcass  immediately  in  front  of  my  door,  where  Lao- 
Chang  waited  to  get  the  best  cut  for  my  dinner.  My 
three  fellow-lodgers  squatted  alongside,  going  through 
their  apologetic  ablutions  as  if  naught  were  happen- 
ing. Their  dirty  face-rags  were  wrung  and  rewrung  ; 
they  got  to  work  with  that  universal  tooth-brush 
(the  forefinger  !),  and  that  the  dead  body  of  a  bullock 
was  being  dissected  two  feet  from  the  table  at  which, 
they  ate  their  steaming  rice  was  a  detail  of  not  the 
slightest  consequence  in  the  world. 

Hungay  is  an  old-time  capital  of  one  of  the  original 
kingdoms,  destroyed  in  the  year  a.d.  749.  The  road 
leading  out  towards  Chao-chow  was  built  some 
considerable  time  before  that  year,  and  has  never 
been  subject  to  any  repairs  whatever  (for  this  fact 
I  have  drawn  upon  my  imagination,  but  should  be 

286 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

very  much  surprised  to  know  that  I  am  far  out  in 
my  reckoning).  Villagers  have  appropriated  the 
public  slabs  and  small  boulders  which  comprised  the 
wretched  thoroughfare  ;  reminiscent  puddles  tell  you 
the  tale,  and  the  badness  of  the  road  renders  it  neces- 
sary for  the  traveller  to  be  out  of  bed  a  little  earlier 
than  usual  to  face  the  ordeal.  The  road  to-day  has 
been  practically  as  bad  as  walking  along  the  sides 
of  the  Yangtze.  But  as  I  studied  the  patience  and 
physical  vitality  of  my  three  men,  laughing  and 
joking  with  the  light-hear tedness  of  children,  with 
nearly  seventy  catties  dangling  from  their  shoulder- 
pole,  without  a  word  of  murmuring,  I  felt  a  little 
ashamed  of  myself  that  I,  whose  duty  it  was  merely 
to  walk,  should  have  made  such  a  fuss.  These  men 
were  prepared  to  work  a  very  long  time  for  very 
little  reward,  as  no  matter  how  small  the  rewards 
for  the  terribly  exhausting  labour,  it  were  better  than 
none  at  all, — so  they  philosophised. 

That  quiet  persistence  and  unfailing  patience  form  "^ 
a  national  virtue  among  the  Chinese — the  capacity  to 
v/ait  without  complaint  and  to  bear  all  with  silent 
endurance.  This  virtue  is  seen  more  clearly  in 
great  national  disasters  which  occasionally  befall 
the  country.  The  terrible  famine  of  i^yy-^  was 
the  cause  of  the  death  of  millions  of  people,  and  left 
scores  of  millions  without  house,  food  or  clothing  ; 
they  were  driven  forth  as  wanderers  on  the  face  of 
the  earth  without  home,  without  hope.  The 
Government  does  nothing  whatever  in  these  cases. 
The  people  who  wish  to  live  must  find  the  means  to 
live,  and  what  impressed  me  all  through  my  wander- 
ings was  the  absolute  science  to  which  poverty  is 
reduced.  In  such  calamities  the  Chinaman,  of  all 
men  on  the  earth's  surface,  will  battle  along  if  there 

287 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

is  any  chance  at  all.  If  he  is  blessed,  he  once  more 
becomes  a  farmer  ;  but  if  not,  he  accepts  the  position 
as  inevitable  and  irremediable.  The  Chinese  race  has 
the  finest  power  in  the  world  to  withstand  with 
fortitude  the  ills  of  life  and  the  miseries  which  follow 
inability  to  procure  the  wherewithal  to  live.  Their 
nerves  are  somehow  different  to  our  Western  nerves. 

Lin  China  nothing  is  wasted,  not  only  in  food,  but 
in  everything  affecting  the  common  life. 
'"'  That  a  beast  dies  of  disease  is  of  no  concern.  It  is 
eaten  all  the  same  from  head  to  hoof,  from  skin  to 
entrail,  and  the  remarkable  fact  is  that  they  do  not 
■seem  to  suffer  from  it  either.  At  Kiang-ti  (mentioned 
in  a  previous  chapter)  I  saw  a  horse  being  pushed 
down  the  hillside  to  the  river.  It  was  not  yet  dead, 
but  was  dying,  so  far  as  I  could  see,  of  inflammation 
of  the  bowels.  Its  body  was  cut  up,  and  there  were 
several  people  waiting  to  buy  it  at  forty  cash  the  catty. 

From  Hungay  onwards  I  met  a  class  of  people  I  had 
not  seen  before.     They  were  the  Minchia  (Pe-ts6). 

Major  H.  R.  Davies,  whose  treatise  on  the  tribes 
of  Yiin-nan  at  the  end  of  his  excellent  work  on  travel 
in  the  province,  is  probably  the  best  yet  written, 
writes  that  he  met  Minchia  people  only  on  the  plains 
of  Tali-fu  and  Chao-chow,  and  never  east  of  the  latter 
place.  This'^was  in  travel  some  ten  or  twelve  years 
ago,  and  the"' fact  that  there  are  now  many  Minchia 
families  livingTin  Hungay  is  a  testimony  to  their 
enterprise  as  a  tribe  in  going  farther  afield  in  search 
of  the  means  to  hve.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the 
Minchia  originally  came  from  country  lying  between 
the  border  of  the  province  and  round  Li-chiang-fu 
and  the  Tali-fu  plain  and  lake.  Most  of  them  wear 
'Chinese  dress  ;    many  of  the  women  bind  their  feet 

288 


Rearing  ducks  in  China. 


Chinese  method  of  Jishing. 


^  -• 


^ 


H 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO   TALI-FU. 

(and  the  practice  is  growing  in  popularity),  although 
those  who  have  not  small  feet  are  still  in  the 
majority.  In  a  small  city  lying  some  few  li  from  the 
city  of  Tali  all  the  inhabitants  are  Minchia,  and  I 
found  no  difficulty  in  spotting  a  Chinese  man  or 
woman — there  is  a  distinct  facial  difference.  Minchia 
have  bigger  noses,  generally  the  eyes  are  set  farther 
apart,  and  the  skin  is  darker.  Pink  trousers  are  in 
fashion  among  the  ladies — trace  of  base  feminine 
weakness  ! — but  are  not  by  any  means  the  distin- 
guishing features  of  race. 


289 
20 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

Peculiar  forebodings  of  early  morning.  A  would-be  speaker 
of  English.  The  young  men  of  Yiin-nan  and  the  Reform 
Movement.  Teachers  of  English.  Remarks  on  methods 
adopted.  Disregard  of  the  customs  of  centuries.  A  rushing 
Szech'wanese.  Alissionaries  and  the  Educational  Move- 
ment. Christianity  and  the  position  of  the  foreigner.  Is 
the  Chinaman  racially  inferior  to  the  European  ?  Interest- 
ing opinion.  Peace  of  Europe  and  integrity  of  China. 
Chao-chow  cook  gets  a  bad  time.  The  author's  levee. 
Natural  "  culture  "  of  the  people.  Story  of  the  birth  of 
boys.  Notes  on  Hsiakwan.  Experiences  of  the  non- 
Chinese-speaking  author  at  the  inn.  How  he  got  the  better 
of  an  official.  A  magnificent  temple.  Kwan-in  and  the 
priests. 

??■'■ 

This  morning,  from  the  foot  of  a  high  spur,  I  saw  a 
couple  of  gawky  fellows  shambling  along  in  an  imita- 
tion European  dress,  and  I  pricked  up  my  ears — it 
seemed  as  if  Europeans  were  about.  One  of  the  fellows 
had  on  a  pair  of  long-legged  khaki  trousers  ludicrously 
patched  with  the  Chinese  blue,  a  tweed  coat  of 
London  cut  also  patched  with  the  Chinese  blue,  and 
a  battered  Elswood  topee.  I  saw  this  through  my 
field-glasses.  Soon  after,  coming  out  from  a  cup  in 
the  winding  pathway,  emerged  a  four-man  chair, 
and  I  had  no  doubt  then  that  it  was  a  European  on 
the  road,  and  I  began  to  get  as  curious  as  anyone 
naturally  would  in  a  country  where  in  interior  travel 
his  own  foreign  kind  are  met  with  but  seldom. 
Hurrying  on,  I  managed  to  pass  the  chair  in  a  place 
where  overhanging  foliage  shut  out  the  light,  so  that 
I  could  not  see  through  the  windows,  and  as  the 
front  curtain  was  down  I  concluded  that  it  must  be 
a  lady,  probably  a  missionary  lady.     I  pushed  on  to 

290 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

the  nearest  tavern — a  tea  tavern,  of  course — 
buttoned  up  my  coat  so  that  she  should  not  see  my 
dirty  shirt,  and  waited  for  the  presence  to  approach. 
From  an  inner  apartment,  through  a  window,  I  could 
see  all  that  went  on  outside,  but  could  not  be  seen. 
What  is  it  that  makes  a  man's  heart  go  pit-a-pat 
when  he  is  about  to  meet  a  European  lady  in  mid- 
China  ? 

Presently  the  chair  approached.  From  it  came  a 
person  covered  in  a  huge  fur-lined,  fur-collared  coat 
many  sizes  too  large  for  his  small  body — it  was  a 
Chinaman.  Several  men  were  pushed  out  of  his 
way  as  he  strode  towards  me,  extending  his  hand  in 
a  cordial  "  shake,  old  fellow  "  style,  and  yelling  in 
purest  accent,  "  Good  morning,  sir  ;  good  morning, 
sir  !  " 

"  Oh,  good  morning.  You  speak  EngHsh  well.  I 
congratulate  you.  Have  you  had  a  good  journey  ? 
How  far  are  you  going  ?  Very  warm  ?  "  I  waited. 
"  It  is  so  interesting  when  one  meets  a  gentleman  who 
can  speak  EngHsh ;  it  is  a  pleasant  change."  I  waited 
again.     "  Will  3/ou " 

"  Good  morning,  morning,  morn — he,  he,  he." 

"  But  pardon  me,  will " 

"  Morning,   morning — he,   he-e-e." 

"  Yes,  you  silly  ass,  I  know  it  is  morning,  but " 

"  Yes,  yes  ;    morning,  morning — he-e-e-e-e." 

He  then  made  for  the  door,  not  the  least  abashed. 
Later  he  came  back,  and  invited  me  to  speak 
Chinese,  probably  thinking  that  I  was  wondering 
why  he  had  made  such  an  absolute  fool  of  himself. 
I  learned  that  this  august  gentleman  possessed  a 
name  in  happy  correspondence  with  a  fowl  ("  Chi  "). 
He  pointed  contemptuously  to  a  member  of  that 
feathered  tribe  as  he  told  me.     Whether  he  could 


291 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

speak  Chinese  when  he  was  or  was  not  at  Chentu,  or 
whether  he  had  a  son  whose  knowledge  of  my  lan- 
guage was  vast,  and  who  was  at  that  moment  at 
Chentu,  I  could  not  quite  fathom,  and  he  could  not 
explain.  He  had  a  look  at  my  caravan  generally, 
and  then  turned  his  scrutiny  upon  my  common 
tweeds,  informing  me  that  the  quality  bore  no 
comparison  with  his  own.  He  could  travel  in  a 
four-man  chair  ;  I  had  to  walk.  It  was  all  very 
*'  puh  hao." 

After  some  time  he  cleared  out  with  much  empty 
swagger,  and  I  followed  leisurely  on  behind,  feehng 
— yes,  why  not  pubhsh  it  ? — pleased  that  this  bolt 
from  the  blue  had  not  been  a  lady. 

This  young  fellow — a  mere  slip  of  a  boy — wore 
every  indication  of  perfect  self-confidence,  borne  out 
in  a  multitude  of  ways  common  to  his  class.  He,  I 
presumed,  was  one  of  the  fledglings  who  undertake 
responsibilities  far  beyond  them,  or  I  should  not  be 
surprised  if  he  had  been  one  of  the  army  of  young 
men  who,  having  the  merest  smattering  of  English, 
wholly  unable  to  converse,  set  up  as  teachers  of 
English.  I  have  found  this  quite  common  among 
the  rising  classes  in  Yiin-nan.  The  cool  assumption 
of  unblushing  superiority  evinced  in  discussing 
intellectual  and  philosophic  problems  is  remarkable. 
The  Chinese,  in  the  area  I  speak  of,  are  little  people 
with  little  brain  :  this  was  a  specimen.  Yet,  to  be 
fair,  in  China  to-day  the  work  of  reform  is  mainly 
the  work  of  young  men,  who  although  but  only 
partly  equipped  for  their  work,  approach  it  with 
perfect  confidence  and  considerable  energy,  not 
knowing  sufficient  to  realise  the  difficulties  they  are 
undertaking.  In  Japan  the  same  thing  was  done. 
The   young  men   there   undertook   to   dispute   and 

292 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

doubt  everything  which  came  in  the  way  of  national 
reorganisation,  setting  aside — as  China  must  do  if  she 
is  to  take  her  place  alongside  the  ideal  she  has  set  up  for 
herself,  Japan— parental  teaching,  ancestral  authority, 
the  customs  of  centuries.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
population  of  China  has  a  passion  for  reform  and 
progress.  This  young  fellow  was  a  typical  example. 
In  the  west  of  China,  however,  to  conform  with  the 
spirit  of  reform  and  real  progress — not  the  make- 
believe,  which  is  satisfying  them  at  the  present 
moment — they  must  needs  change  their  ways. 

Seventeen  memorial  plates  were  passed  at  the 
entrance  to  Chao-chow,  a  particularly  modem- 
looking  place,  as  one  approaches  it  from  the  hill. 

A  remarkably  ungainly  individual,  with  a  hole  in 
the  top  of  his  skull  and  his  body  one  mass  of  sores,, 
came  to  me  here,  addressed  me  as  "  Sien  seng,"  and 
then  commenced  an  oration  to  the  effect  that  he 
was  a  Szech'wanese,  that  he  had  known  the  mis- 
sionaries down  by  the  Yangtze,  and  that  he  knew 
he  would  be  welcome  to  accompany  me  to  Hsiakwan.* 
He  switched  himself  on  the  main  line  of  my  caravan. 
Here  was  a  man  who  had  been  brought  in  contact 
with  the  missionary  away  down  in  another  province, 
and  he  knew  he  was  welcome.  I  liked  that.  In  all] 
my  journeyings  in  Yiin-nan  I  was  increasingly  im-' 
pressed  with  the  value  of  the  missionary,  that  man 
who  of  all  men  in  the  Far  East  is  the  most  subject 
to  mahcious  criticism,  and  generally,  be  it  said,  from 
those  persons  who  know  little  or  nothing  about  his 
work.  You  cannot  measure  the  missionary's  work 
by  conversions,  by  mere  statistics.  I  venture  to 
assert   that   it  is   through  the  missionary  that   the 

*  The  commercial  centre  of  Tali-f  u ;  the  official  city  is  30  li 
further  on. — E.  J.  D. 

293 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

West  applied  pressure  and  supplied  China  with 
political  ideas,  and  put  within  her  reach  the  material 
and  instruments  which  would  enable  her  to  carry 
such  ideas  into  practice  —  this  apart  from  re- 
ligious teaching.  More  particularly  is  this  the 
case  in  respect  to  popular  education,  perhaps, 
by  means  of  which  the  transformation  of  Old  China 
into  New  China  will  be  a  less  long  and  difficult 
process.  The  people  may  not  want  the  missionary 
— I  do  not  for  a  moment  say  that  they  do — but 
they  need  to  know  the  secret  of  his  power  and  the 
power  of  his  kind,  and  they  must  study  his  language, 
his  science,  his  machinery,  his  steamboats,  his  army, 
his  Dreadnoughts.  They  realise  that  the  foreigner 
is  useful  not  for  what  he  can  do,  but  for  what  he  can 
teach — therefore  they  tolerate  the  missionary.  This 
is  virtually  the  national  pohcy  of  China  towards 
foreigners,  a  policy  gaining  the  acceptance  of  the 
people  with  remarkable  quickness. 

Were  the  missionary  to  say,  "  Come,  and  I  will 
teach  you  Enghsh,"  his  preaching  shop  would  be  full 
always.  There  are  those  who  predict  that  the  time 
is  not  far  off  when  the  Chinese  people  will  drop  the 
missionary,  when  they  will  turn  him  out  neck  and 
crop,  as  it  were.  But  I  do  not  think  so.  For  I  am 
of  opinion  that  the  time  will  come  when  there  shall 
be  proclaimed  in  China  a  Christianity  freed  from  all 
entangling  alhances,  a  Christianity  pure  and  simple, 
which  shall  not  have  been  eclipsed  in  any  age  of  the 
world's  history. 

This  turning  out  of  the  foreigner,  however,  is  prob- 
ably to-day  at  the  back  of  the  heads  of  thousands 
of  so-called  patriotic  Chinese.  They  will  learn  all 
the  foreigner  has  to  teach,  and  when  proficient  will 
say,  "  Go  out,  we  no  longer  want  you  here  !  "    This  is 

t  294 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO    TALI-FU. 

the  present  aspect  of  tilings  ;  but  I  think  that  by  the 
time  they  know  all  they  aspire  to  know  in  social, 
commercial,  political,  and  religious  dealings,  they  will 
have  learnt  that  the  key  to  the  greatness  of  the  West 
is  her  Christianity.  That  wonderful  force — although 
they  may  not  reahse  it — is  operating  now  on  Chinese 
human  nature,  vivifying  and  quickening  the  heart  of 
the  nation  itself,  influencing  personal,  family,  social, 
and  national  life  more  powerfully  than  can  be 
measured.  They  will  soon  learn  that  the  main  idea 
of  Europe  and  America  is  not  the  absorption  of  their 
empire,  but  genuine  international  trading ;  that 
the  now-believed  hostile  control  and  dictation  by  the  . 
West  is  rather  kindly  guidance.  I  do  not  say— Ij 
cannot  say,  would  that  I  could — that  this  is  always 
shown  to  the  Chinaman  by  the  average  European  or 
American  in  China,  especially  in  the  coast  ports.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  many  there  are  who  tacitly  assume  / 
that  the  Chinaman  exists  for  the  direct  benefit  of 
the  European,  and  hold  the  view  that  the  Chinaman 
is  not  only  an  inferior  being,  with  an  inferior  civiKsa- 
tion,  but  that  he  is  far  lower  in  the  scale  of  evolution 
and  of  humanity. 

After  having  set  aside  all  considerations  of  national 
prejudice  and  patriotism,  it  is  interesting  to  ask 
whether  it  is  actually  a  fact  that  the  Chinese,  as 
a  race,  are  inferior  to  the  peoples  of  the  West  ? 
Much  has  been  said  on  the  subject.  I  give  my 
opinion  flatly  that  the  Chinaman  is  not  inferior,  and 
the  longer  I  live  with  him  the  more  numerous  become 
the  lessons  which  he  teaches  me.  He  needs  Chris- 
tianity, and  I  venture  to  think  that  with  the  Christian 
conscience  the  Chinese  race  may  possibly  prove  itself 
to  be  superior  to  the  nations  of  the  West. 

"  The  question,  when  we  examine  it  closely,  has 

295 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

really  very  little  to  do  with  political  strength  or  mili- 
tary efficiency,  or  [pace  Mr.  Benjamin  Kidd)  relative 
standards  of  living,  or  even  the  usual  material  accom- 
paniments of  what  we  call  an  advanced  civilisation ; 
it  is  a  question  for  the  trained  anthropologist  and 
the  craniologist  rather  than  for  the  casual  observer 
of  men  and  manners.  The  Japanese  people  are  now 
much  more  highly  civihsed — according  to  western 
notions — than  they  were  half  a  century  ago,  but  it 
would  be  ludicrously  erroneous  to  say  that  they  are 
now  a  higher  race,  from  the  evolutionary  point  of 
view,  than  they  were  then.  Evolution  does  not  work 
quite  so  rapidly  as  that  even  in  these  days  of 
'  hustle.'  The  Japanese  have  advanced,  not  be- 
cause their  brains  have  suddenly  become  larger,  or 
their  moral  and  intellectual  capabilities  have  all  at 
once  made  a  leap  forward,  but  because  their  inter- 
course with  Western  nations,  after  centuries  of 
isolated  seclusion,  showed  them  that  certain  charac- 
teristic features  of  European  civiHsation  would  be 
of  great  use  in  strengthening  and  enriching  their  own 
country,  developing  its  resources,  and  giving  it  the 
power  to  resist  aggression.  If  the  Japanese  were  as 
members  of  the  homo  sapiens  inferior  to  us  fifty 
years  ago,  they  are  inferior  to  us  now.  If  they  are 
our  equals  to-day — and  the  burden  of  proof  certainly 
now  rests  on  him  who  wishes  to  show  that  they  are 
not — our  knowledge  of  the  origin  and  history  of 
Eastern  peoples,  scanty  though  it  is,  should  certainly 
tend  to  assure  us--that  the  Chinese  are  our  equals  too. 
There  is  no  vaHd  reason  for  supposing  that  the 
Chinese  people  are  ethnically  inferior  to  the  Japanese. 
They  have  preserved  their  isolated  seclusion  longer 
than  the  Japanese,  because  until  very  recently  it  was 
less  urgently  necessary  for  them  to  come  out  of  it. 

296 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

They  have  taken  a  longer  time  to  appreciate  the 
valire  of  Western  science  and  certain  features  of 
Western  civiUsation,  because  new  ideas  take  longer 
to  permeate  a  very  large  country  than  a  small  one, 
and  because  China  was  rich  within  her  own  borders  of 
all  the  necessaries  of  life."* 

And  the  West,  too,  must  learn  that  the  peace  of 
Europe  depends  upon  the  integrity  of  China.  For 
the  time  is  coming — not  in  the  Hves  of  any 
who  read  these  Hnes,  but  coming  inevitably — 
when  China  will,  by  her  might,  by  her  immense 
numbers  of  trained  men,  by  her  developed  naval 
and  mihtary  strength,  be  able  to  say  to  the 
nations  of  the  earth,  "  There  must  be  no  more 
war."  And  she  will  be  strong  enough  to  be  able 
to  enforce  it. 

As  with  individuals,  so  with  nations,  and  a  people 
who  are  marked  by  such  rare  physical  vitahty,  such 
remarkable  powers  of  endurance  against  great  odds, 
are  surely  designed  for  some  nobler  purpose  than 
merely  to  bear  with  fortitude  the  ills  of  Kfe  and 
the  misery  of  starvation.  It  is  the  easiest  thing- 
in  the  world  to  criticise — the  West  criticises  the 
Chinaman  because  he  is  a  heathen,  because  they 
do  not  understand  him.  Hundreds  of  milUons 
of  the  Chinese  race  hate  and  fear  the  man  of 
the  West  for  exactly  the  same  reason  as  would 
cause  us  to  hate  the  Chinese  were  the  situation 
reversed. 

I  do  not  need  to  go  into  history  from  the 
days  when  the  Chinese  first  began  to  show  their 
suspicion,  contempt,  and  fear  of  foreigners,  and 
their  interpretation   of   the   motives   and   purposes 

*  From  Peking  to  Mandalay,  by  R.  F.  Johnston.  London  : 
John  Murray.  I  am  indebted  to  this  racily-written  work  for 
other  ideas  in  this  chapter. — E.  J.  D. 

297 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

which  took  them  to  the  Celestial  Empire ;  it  would 
take  too  much  space.  But  if  we  of  the  West  did  our 
part  to-day,  as  we  rub  up  against  the  Chinaman 
everywhere,  in  charitably  taking  him  at  his  best, 
things  would  alter  much  more  speedily  than 
they  are  doing.  Because  the  Chinaman  bristles 
with  contradictions  and  seemingly  unanswerable 
conundrums,  we  immediately  dub  him  a  barbarian, 
do  not  endeavour  to  understand  him,  do  not 
understand  enough  of  his  language  to  listen 
to  him  and  leani  his  point  of  view.  However, 
it  is  all  slowly  passing — so  very  slowly  too.  But 
still  China  is  progressing,  and  now  this  oldest 
man  in  the  world  is  becoming  again  the  youngest, 
but  has  all  the  accumulations  and  advantages 
of  age  in  all  countries  to  lean  upon  and  learn 
from. 

Chao-chow  gave  me  a  very  decent  inn,  the  top 
room  in  front  of  which  was  provided  with  a  well- 
paved  courtyard,  with  every  convenience  for  the 
traveller — that  is,  for  China. 

The  inn  cook  and  water-carrier  was  out  playing  on 
the  street  when  we  put  in  an  early  appearance.  My 
men  lost  their  temper,  ground  their  teeth,  foamed  at 
the  mouth,  and  got  desperate.  The  only  man  on 
the  premises  was  a  poor  old  fellow,  who  foolishly 
bumped  his  uncovered  head  on  the  ground  on  which 
I  stood,  as  an  act  of  great  servility  and  a  secret  sign 
that  I  should  throw  him  a  few  cash,  and  then  re- 
sumed his  occupation  in  the  sun  of  wiping  his  already 
inflamed  eyes  with  the  one  unwashed  garment  which 
covered  him.  I  pitied  him  ;  he  knew  it,  and  traded 
upon  my  pity  until  I  invoked  a  few  choice  words  from 
Lao  Chang  to  fall  upon  him.     When  the  cook  did 

298 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO    TALI-FU. 

put  in  an  appearance,  he  and  everybody  dead  and 
living  placed  anywhere  near  his  genealogical  tree 
underwent  a  rough  quarter  of  an  hour  from  the 
anathematical  tongues  of  my  companions.  The 
Old  Man — by  virtue  of  the  growth  on  my  chin, 
this  epithet  of  respect  was  commonly  used  towards 
me — wanted  to  wash  his  face  and  drink  his  tea.  He 
was  tired  with  walking.  He  was  a  foreign  mandarin. 
Did  the  blank,  blank,  blank  cook,  the  worm  and  no 
man,  not  know  that  a  foreigner  was  among  them  ? 
And  then  they  fell  to  piling  up  the  ignominy  again 
and  placing  to  the  cook's  dishonour  various  degrees 
of  lowliest  origin  common  among  the  Chinese 
proletariat,  which,  thank  Heaven,  I  did  not  quite 
understand. 

That  evening  all  Chao-chow  came  to  honour  me  in 
my  room,  and  to  admire  and  ask  to  be  given  all  I  had 
in  my  boxes.  That  it  was  all  a  huge  revelation  to 
many  who  came  and  inquired  who  I  might  be,  and 
whence  I  might  have  come,  was  quite  evident.  One 
fellow,  dressed  gaudily  in  expensive  silks  and  satins 
— probably  borrowed — came  with  pomp  and  pride ; 
and  disappointment  was  writ  large  upon  his  ugly  face 
when  he  learned  that  I  could  not,  or  would  not, 
speak  with  him.  He  mentioned  that  he  was  one  of 
the  cultured  of  the  city.  But  the  Chinese  are  all 
more  or  less  cultured.  My  own  coolies,  although  not 
knowing  a  character,  are  really  "  cultured  " — they 
are  the  most  polite  men  I  have  ever  travelled  with. 
The  culture,  at  any  rate,  although  more  apparent 
than  real,  has  a  universality  in  China  which  the 
foreigner  must  observe  in  moving  among  the  people, 
and  which,  as  a  sort  of  lubrication,  makes  the  wheels 
of  society  run  smoother.  This  man  was  not  cultured 
in  the  matter  of  taste  in  the  choice  of  colours.     He 


299 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

was  altogether  frightfully  lacking  in  sense  of  har- 
mony, and  when  one  saw  the  little  boy  who  trotted 
along  with  him,  one  might  have  thought  that  Joseph's 
coat  had  been  revived  for  my  especial  edification.  He- 
was  a  peculiar  being,  this  highly-coloured  man.  He 
would  persist  in  sitting  down  on  his  haunches,  despite 
frequent  invitations  to  use  a  chair — how  is  it  all 
Orientals  can  do  this,  and  not  one  European  out  of 
fifty? 

Lao  Chang  afterwards  informed  me  that  this  man's 
wife  had  just  presented  him  with  a  second  son,  and 
great  jubilation  was  taking  place.  The  birth  of  a 
child,  especially  of  a  boy,  is  a  great  event  in  any 
Chinese  household,  and  considerable  anxiety  is  felt 
lest  demons  should  be  lurking  about  the  house  and 
cause  trouble.  A  sorcerer  is  called  in  just  before  the 
birth,  to  exorcise  all  evil  influences  from  the  house 
and  secure  peace.  This  is  the  "  Exorcism  of  Great 
Peace."  Simultaneously  comes  the  midwife. 
Should  the  birth  be  attended  with  great  pain  and 
difficulty,  recourse  is  had  to  crackers,  the  firing  of 
guns,  or  whatever  similar  device  can  be  thought  of 
to  scare  off  the  demons.  Solicitude  is  often  felt  that 
the  first  visit  to  the  house  after  the  birth  of  the  child 
should  be  made  by  a  "  lucky  "  person,  for  the  child's 
whole  future  career  may  be  blighted  by  meeting  with 
an  "  ill-starred  "  person.  No  outsider  will  enter  the 
room  where  the  birth  took  place  for  forty  days.  On 
the  anniversary  of  a  boy's  birth  the  relatives  and 
friends  bring  presents  of  clothes,  hats,  ornaments,, 
playthings,  and  red  eggs.  The  baby  is  placed  on  the 
floor — the  earth,  which  is  the  first  place  he  touches  ; 
he  is  born  into  a  hole  in  the  ground — and  around  him 
are  placed  various  articles,  such  as  a  book,  pencil, 
chopsticks,  money,  and  so  on.     He  will  follow  the 

300 


YUN-NAN-FU   TO    TALI-FU. 

profession  which  has  to  do  with  the  articles  he  first 
touches.* 

This  was  the  fortieth  day,  and  so  my  visitant 
lionoured  me  by  thrusting  his  contemptible  presence 
upon  me,  and  he  would  not  go  until  late  at  night, 
when  a  man  with  a  diseased  hip  and  one  eye — and  a 
:ghastly  thing  at  that — called  to  see  whether  I  could 
treat  him  with  medicine. 

Hsiakwan  in  days  to  come  will  probably  have  a 
"big  industry  in  brick  and  tile  making.  Fifteen  li 
from  the  town,  on  the  Chao-chow  side,  many  people 
now  get  their  living  at  the  business,  and  one  could 
easily  dream  of  a  "  Hsiakwan  Brick  and  Tile 
Company  Limited,"  with  the  children's  children  of 
the  present  pioneers  running  for  the  morning  papers 
to  have  a  look  at  the  share  market  reports,  with 
light  railways  connected  up  with  the  main  line, 
which  has  not  yet  been  built,  and  so  on,  and  so  on. 

Hsiakwan  is  perhaps  the  busiest  towTi  on  the 
main  trade  route  from  Yiin-nan-fu  to  Burma. 
Tali-fu,  although  growing,  is  only  the  official  town, 
■of  which  Hsiakwan  is  the  commercial  entrepot.  It 
"was  here  that  I  stayed  one  Sunday  some  time  after 
this,  at  one  of  the  biggest  inns  I  have  ever  been  into 
in  China.  It  had  no  less  than  four  buildings,  each 
with  a  paved  rectangular  courtyard  which  all  the 
rooms  overlooked.  A  mihtary  official,  who  was  on 
his  way  to  Chao-t'ong  to  deal  with  the  rebellion, 
-of  which  the  reader  has  already  learnt  a  good  deal, 
was  expected  soon  after  I  arrived.  My  room  was 
already  arranged,  however,  when  the  landlord  came 
to  m.e  and  said — 

*  From  inquiries  I  find  this  custom  is  not  general  in  some  parts 
■of  Western  China.— E.  J.  D, 

301 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

"  Yang  gwan,  you  must  please  go  out  !  " 
Now  the  yang  gwan,  as  was  expected,  stayed 
where  he  was,  smiled  in  magnanimous  acquiescence, 
invited  the  proprietor — a  stout,  jolly  person  with  one 
eye — to  be  seated,  and  remained  quiet.  Again  and 
again  was  I  told  that  I  should  be  required  to  clear 
out,  and  give  up  the  best  room  to  the  official  and  his 
aide-de-camp,  but  unfortunately  the  inquirer  did 
not  improve  the  situation  by  persisting  in  the  fooHsh 
belief  that  the  foreigner  was  hard  of  hearing.  He 
shouted  his  request  into  my  ear  in  a  stentorian  basso, 
he  waved  his  hands,  he  pointed,  he  made  signs.  The 
Chinese  language  and  manner,  however,  are  difficult 
to  an  addle-pated  foreigner.  I,  poor  foohsh  fellow, 
endeavouring  to  treat  the  Chinaman  in  a  manner 
identical  to  that  which  he  would  have  employed  had 
conditions  been  reversed,  stared  vacantly  and 
woodenly  into  a  seemingly  bewildering  infinite,  and 
timidly  remarked,  "  O  t'ing  puh  lai."  Knowing  then 
that  my  "  hearing  had  not  come,"  he  requisitioned 
my  boy,  for  the  aide-de-camp  by  this  time  was 
glumly  peering  into  my  doorway ;  but  to  his  disgust 
Lao  Chang  also  was  equally  unsuccessful  in  making 
me  tumble  to  their  meaning.  The  best  room,  there- 
fore, continued  to  be  mine. 

Soon  after  the  official  came,  and  my  dog  began  by 
mauling  his  canine  guardian,  tearing  away  half  his 
ear  ;  and  in  the  middle  of  the  night  one  of  my  horses 
got  loose  and  had  a  stand-up  fight  with  a  mule 
attached  to  the  official  party,  laming  him  seriously ; 
and  as  the  foreigner  emerged  in  his  night  attire  to 
prevent  further  damage,  he  encountered  the  man- 
darin himself,  and  pinned  him  dead  against  the  wall 
in  the  dark,  after  having  stepped  on  his  corn.  My 
pony  had  pulled  several  morsels  of  flesh  from  the 

302 


YUN-NAN-FU    TO    TALI-FU. 

mule's  carcase.  The  yang  gwan  certainly  came  off 
best,  and  the  following  morning,  as  the  Chinese 
gwan  with  his  retinue  of  six  chairs  and  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  men  departed,  the  yang  gwan 
smiled  a  happy  farewell  which  was  not  effusively 
reciprocated. 

As  I  came  out  of  the  inn  I  met  a  Buddhist  priest, 
worn  with  general  dilapidation  and  old  age,  with  a 
huge  festering  wound  in  the  calf  of  his  leg,  so  that 
he  could  hardly  hobble  along  with  a  stick — he  was 
probably  on  his  way  ito  the  medical  missionary 
at  TaH-fu  for  treatment.  This  spiritual  guide 
was  certainly  on  his  last  legs,  and  has  probably 
by  this  time  handed  over  the  priestly  robes 
and  official  perquisites  to  more  vigorous  young 
blood. 

Hsiakwan's  High  Street  reminded  me  of  the  main 
street  of  Totnes,  with  its  arch  over  the  roadway, 
and  the  scenery  might  have  deluded  one  into  the 
belief  that  he  was  in  Switzerland  in  spring,  as  he 
gazed  upon  the  glorious  spectacle  of  snow-covered 
mountains  with  the  world-famed  lake  at  the  foot. 
Tali-fu  deserves  its  name  of  the  Geneva  of  West 
China. 

In  the  chapter  devoted  to  Yiin-nan-fu  I  have 
referred  to  the  military  of  Tali-fu,  but  here  I 
saw  the  men  actually  at  drill,  and  a  finer  set  of 
men  I  have  rarely  seen  in  Europe.  The  military 
Tao-tai  lives  here.  Progress  is  phenomenal.  At 
Yung-chang,  the  westernmost  prefecture  of  the 
Empire,  the  commanding  officer  couldjeven  speak 
English. 

In  the  famous  temple  ten  li  from  Tali-fu  is  an  effigy 
to  the  Yang  Daren  who  figured  conspicuously^^during 
the  Mohammedan  Rebellion.     My  men  somehow  got 

303 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the  false  information  that  he  was  a  native  of  Tong- 
ch'uan-fu,  so  they  all  went  down  on  their  knees  and 
bumped  their  heads  on  the  ground  before  the  image. 
This  Yang,  however,  was  such  a  brute  of  a  man  that 
no  young  girl  was  safe  where  he  was  ;  however,  as 
a  soldier  he  was  indomitable.  The  temple  in 
which  he  is  deified  is  called  the  Kwan-in-tang,* 
and  there  is  no  place  in  all  China  where  Kwan-in 
is  worshipped  with  such  relentless  vigour.  Some 
years  ago,  so  the  wags  say,  when  Tah-fu  was 
threatened  by  rebels,  Kwan-in  saved  the  city  by 
transforming  herself  into  a  Herculean  creature, 
and  carrying  upon  her  back  a  stone  of  several 
tons  weight,  presumably  to  block  the  path.  The 
amazement  of  the  rebels  at  the  sight  of  a  woman 

*  Temple  to  the  Goddess  of  Mercy. 

"  Kwan-in  was  the  third  daughter  of  a  king,  beautiful  and 
talented,  and  when  young  loved  to  meditate  as  a  priest.  Her 
father,  mother  and  sisters  beseech  her  not  to  pass  the  '  green 
■spring,'  but  to  marry,  and  the  king  offers  the  man  of  her  choice 
the  throne.  But  no,  she  must  take  the  veil.  She  enters  the 
'  White  Sparrow  Nunnery,'  and  the  nuns  put  her  to  the  most 
menial  offices  ;  the  dragons  open  a  well  for  the  young  maid- 
servant, and  the  wild  beasts  bring  her  wood.  The  king  sends 
his  troops  to  burn  the  nunnery,  Kwan-in  prays,  rain  falls,  and 
■extinguishes  the  conflagration.  She  is  brought  to  the  palace  in 
chains,  and  the  alternative  of  marriage  or  death  is  placed  before 
her.  In  the  room  above  where  the  court  of  the  inquisition  is 
held  there  is  music,  dancing,  and  feasting,  sounds  and  sights 
to  allure  a  young  girl  ;  the  queen  also  urges  her  to  leave  the 
convent,  and  accede  to  the  royal  father's  wish.  Kwan-in  de- 
clares that  she  would  rather  die  than  marry,  so  the  fairy  princess 
is  strangled,  and  a  tiger  takes  her  body  into  the  forest.  She 
descends  into  hell,  and  hell  becomes  a  paradise,  with  gardens  of 
lilies.  King  Yama  is  terrified  when  he  sees  the  prison  of  the 
lost  becoming  an  enchanted  garden,  and  begs  her  to  leave,  in 
order  that  the  good  and  the  evil  may  have  their  distinctive 
rewards.  One  of  the  genii  gives  her  the  '  peach  of  immortality.' 
On  her  return  to  the  terrestrial  regions  she  hears  that  her  father 
is  sick,  and  sends  him  word  that  if  he  will  dispatch  a  messenger 
to  the  '  Fragrant  Mountain,'  an  eye  and  a  hand  will  be  given 
him  for  medicine  ;  this  hand  and  eye  are  Kwan-in' s  own,  and 
produce  instant  recovery. 

"  She  is  the  patron  goddess  of  mothers,  and  when  we  remember 
the  value  of  sons,  we  can  understand  the  heartiness  of  worship." 
—  The  Three  Religions  of  China,  by  H.  G.  Du  Bose. 

304 


0) 


i^X!- 


Main  sired  of  Tali-fii. 


A^K 


Jts^ 


**'■"■■■  i^' 


MontJiiy  market  at  lali-Jn. 

The  third  moon  fair  of  this  city,  when  Tibetans  gather  from  the  north, 
is  world  famous. 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

performing  such  a  feat  made  them  wonder  what  the 
men  could  be  Uke,  so  they  turned  tail  and  fled. 
The  story  is  believed  implicitly  by  the  residents  of 
the  city,  and  the  priests,  with  an  open  eye  to  the 
main  chance,  work  upon  the  public  imagination  with 
capital  tact.  I  saw  the  stone  in  the  centre  of  a  lotus 
pond,  over  which  is  the  structure  in  which  the 
Kwan-in  sits,  not  as  a  weight-lifting  woman,  but  as  a 
tender  mother,  with  a  tiny  babe  in  her  arms,  and 
none  in  the  whole  of  the  Empire  enjoys  such  favour 
for  being  able  to  direct  the  birth  of  male  children 
into  those  families  which  give  most  money  to  the 
priests.  Women  desiring  sons  come  and  implore  her 
by  throwing  cash,  one  by  one,  at  the  effigy,  the  one 
who  hits  being  successful,  going  away  with  the 
belief  that  a  son  will  be  bom  to  her.  When  the 
deluded  females  are  cleared  out,  the  priest,  divesting 
himself  of  his  shoes,  and  rolling  up  his  trousers,  goes 
into  the  water,  scoops  up  the  money,  and  uses  it  for 
his  personal  convenience — sometimes  as  much  as 
thirty  thousand  cash.* 

*  See  Appendix  K. 


21 


THIRD     JOURNEY. 
TALI-FU   TO    THE    MEKONG   VALLEY. 

CHAPTER    XX. 

Stages  to  the  Mekong  Valley.  Hardest  part  of  the  walking 
tour.  Author  as  a  medical  man.  Sunday  soliloquy.  How 
adversity  is  met.  Chinese  life  compared  with  early 
European  ages.  Women's  enthusiasm  over  the  European. 
A  good  send-off.  My  coolie  Shanks,  the  songster.  Laughter 
for  tears.  Pony  commits  suicide.  Houses  in  the  forest 
district.  Little  encampments  among  the  hills,  and  the  way 
the  people  pass  their  time.  Treacherous  travel.  To  Hwan- 
lien-p'u.  Rest  by  the  river,  and  a  description  of  my 
companions.  How  my  men  treated  the  telegraph.  Universal 
lack  of  privacy.     Complaints  of  the  carrying  coolies. 

From  whichever  standpoint  you  regard  the  cities 
and  villages  of  Western  China,  the  views  are  full 
of  interest.  Each  forms  a  new  picture  of  rock, 
river,  wood  and  temple,  crenellated  wall,  and  up- 
lifted roof,  crowded  with  bewildering  detail. 

I  am  not  the  first  traveller  who  has  remarked  this. 
Several  of  Mr.  Archibald  Little's  books  speak  'of  it. 
He  says :  "In  Europe,  except  where  the  scenery  is 
purely  wild,  and  more  especially  in  America,  the  de- 
light of  gazing  on  many  of  the  most  beautiful  scenes 
is  often  alloyed  by  the  crude  newness  of  man's  work. 
This  is  true  now  of  Japan,  since  the  rage  for  copying 
western  architecture  and  dress  has  fallen  upon  the 
Islands  of  the  Rising  Sun.  But  here  in  Western 
China  little  has  intervened  to  mar  the  accord  between 
nature  and  man."     In  the  country  on  which  we  are 

306 


TALI-FU   TO    THE    MEKONG   VALLEY. 


now  entering  the  natural  grandeur  is  finer  than 
anything  I  had  seen  since  I  left  the  Gorges,  and 
incidentally  I  do  not  mind  confessing  to  the  indulgent 
reader  that  when  I  came  again  through  Hsiakwan, 
again  westward  bound,  I  was  tired,  my  feet  were 
bUstered  and  broken,  each  day  and  every  day  had 
brought  me  a  hard  journey,  and  here  I  was  now 
facing  the  most  difficult  journey  yet  met  with — 
hterally  not  a  li  of  level  road. 

My  journey  was  by  the  following  route : — 


Length  of 

Height 

stage. 

above  sea. 

1st  day — Ho-chiang-p'u    . 

.     90  li     . 

•    5,050  ft. 

2nd  ,,  — Yang-pi 

.    6on    . 

•    5.150  ft. 

3rd   ,,  — T'ai-p'ing-p'u     . 

.     70  li     . 

.    7,400  ft. 

5th    ,,  — Hwan-lien-p'u    . 

.     50  H     . 

.    5,200  ft. 

6th   ,,  — Ch'u-tung  . . 

•     95  li     . 

.    5,250  ft. 

7th    ,,  — Shayung 

.     75H     . 

.    4,800  ft 

T'ai-p'ing-p'u  (two  days  from  Tali-fu),  bleak  and 
perched  away  up  among  the  clouds,  could  never  be 
called  a  town  ;  it  is  merely  a  ramshackle  place  which 
gives  one  sleep  and  food  in  the  difficult  stage  between 
Hwan-Ken-p'u  and  Yang-pi. 

Like  most  of  the  small  places  which  suffered  from 
the  ravishings  of  the  Mohammedan  destructions  of 
the  fifties,  it  has  seen  better  days.  Cottages  hang 
clumsily  together  on  ledges  in  the  mountains,  7,400 
feet  above  the  sea,  standing  in  their  own  vast  un- 
cultivated grounds.  People  are  of  the  Lolo  origin, 
but  all  speak  Chinese  ;  their  ways  of  life,  however, 
are  aboriginal,  and  still  far  from  the  ideal  to  which 
they  aspire.  They  are  poor,  poor  as  church  mice, 
dirty  and  diseased  and  decrepit,  and  their  existence 
as  a  consequence  is  dreary  and  dull  and  void  of  all 


307 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

enlightenment.  The  women — sad,  lowly  females 
— bind  their  feet  after  a  fashion,  but  as  they  work  in 
the  fields,  climb  hills,  and  battle  in  negotiations 
against  Nature  where  she  is  overcome  only  with 
extreme  effort,  the  real  "  lily  "  is  a  thing  possible 
with  them  only  in  their  dreams.  By  binding,  how- 
ever, be  it  never  so  bad  an  imitation,  they  give 
themselves  the  greater  chance  of  getting  a  Chinese 
husband. 

I  stayed  here  the  Sunday,  and  as  I  went  through 
my  evening  ablutions,  among  my  admirers  in  the 
doorway  was  an  old  woman,  who  in  gentlest  confi- 
dences with  my  boy,  explained  awkwardly  that  her 
little  daughter  lay  sick  of  a  fever,  and  could  he  pre- 
vail upon  his  foreign  master,  in  whom  she  placed 
imphcit  faith,  to  come  with  her  and  minister  ?  Lao 
Chang  advised  that  I  should  go,  and  I  went.  My 
shins  got  mutilated  as  I  fell  down  the  slippery 
stone  steps  in  the  dark  into  a  pail  of  hog's  wash  at  the 
bottom.  Having  wiped  the  worst  of  the  grease  and 
slime  on  to  the  mud  wall,  oy  the  aid  of  a  flickering 
rushhght  I  saw  the  "  child,"  who  lay  on  a  mattress 
on  the  floor  in  the  darkest  comer  of  the  room.  I 
reckoned  her  age  to  be  thirty-five,  her  black  hair 
hung  in  tangled  masses,  the  very  bed  on  which 
she  lay  stunk  with  vermin,  two  feet  away  was  the 
fire  where  all  the  cooking  was  gone  through,  and 
everywhere  around  was  filth.  When  she  saw  me  the 
"  child  "  raised  her  soHtary  garment,  whispered  that 
pains  in  her  stomach  were  well-nigh  unendurable, 
that  her  head  ached,  that  her  joints  were  stiff,  that 
she  was  generally  WTong,  and — "  Did  I  think  she 
would  recover  ?  "     I  thought  she  might  not. 

Rushing  back  to  my  medicine  chest,  I  brought 
along  and  administered  a  maximum  dose  of  the  oil 

308 


TALI-FU    TO    THE    MEKONG    VALLEY. 

called  castor,  and  later  dosed  her  with  quinine.  In 
the  morning  she  was  out  and  about  her  work,  while 
the  old  mother  was  great  in  her  praises  for  the  passing 
European  who  had  cured  her  child.  After  that 
came  the  deluge  !  They  wanted  more  medicine — 
fever  elixir,  toothache  cure,  and  so  on  and  so  on — 
but  I  stood  firm. 

The  tedium  of  the  Sunday  in  that  draughty 
inn  gave  me  an  insight  into  their  common  Hves 
which  I  had  not  before,  causing  me  to  medi- 
tate upon  their  simple  lives  and  their  simple 
needs.  They  did  not  raise  the  forests  in  order 
to  get  gold  ;  they  did  not  squander  their  patri- 
mony in  youth,  destroying  in  a  day  the  fruit  of 
long  years.  They  held  to  simple  needs  ;  they  had  a 
simplicity  of  taste,  which  was  also  a  peculiar  source 
of  independence  and  safety.  The  more  simple  they 
lived  the  more  secure  their  future,  because  they  were 
less  at  the  mercy  of  surprises  and  reverses.  In  adver- 
sity these  people  would  not  act  Kke  nurslings 
deprived  of  their  bottles  and  their  rattles,  but 
would,  by  virtue  of  their  common  simpHcity,  pro- 
bably be  better  armed  for  any  struggles.  I  do  not 
desire  the  life  for  myself,  but  the  ethics  of  their  simple 
living  cannot  but  be  recommended.  Multitudes 
possess  in  China  what  multitudes  in  the  West  pursue 
amid  characteristic  hampering  futihties  of  European 
life.  We  would  aspire  to  simple  living,  and  the 
simplicity  of  olden  times  in  manners,  art  and 
ideas  is  still  cherished  and  reverenced  ;  but  we 
cannot  be  simple  or  return  to  the  simplicity  of  our 
forefathers  unless  we  return  to  the  spirit  which 
animated  them.  They  possessed  the  spirit  of  real 
simplicity.  And  this  same  spirit  the  Chinese  possess 
to-day;     but    they    are    minus    the    incomparable 

309 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

features  of  healthful  civilisation,  inward  and  out- 
ward, of  which  our  forbears  were  masters.  Our 
ways  to-day  are  not  their  ways,  and  their  ways  not 
our  ways  ;  but  one  cannot  but  realise  as  he  moves 
among  them  that  with  a  happy  infusion  of  the 
spirit  of  their  simplicity  into  the  restlessness  of  our 
modem  hfe  our  wearied  minds  would  dream  less  and 
I  realise  more  of  the  true  simpHcity  of  simple  living. 

To  a  man  the  village  of  T'ai-p'ing-p'u  turned  out 
early  on  the  Monday  morning  to  express  regrets  that 
my  departure  was  at  hand.  When,  in  parting  with 
this  people  who  had  done  all  in  their  power  to  make 
my  comfort  complete,  I  threw  a  handful  of  cash  to 
some  little  children  standing  wonderingly  near  by, 
general  approval  was  expressed,  and  elaborate  felici- 
ties anent  my  beneficence  exchanged  by  the  ear- 
ringed  Lolo  women.  A  short  apron  hung  down  over 
their  blue  trousers,  and  as  I  passed  out  of  their  sight, 
they  admired  me  and  gossiped  about  me,  with  their 
hands  under  their  aprons,  in  much  the  same  manner 
as  their  more  enlightened  sisters  of  the  wash-tub 
gossip  sometimes  in  the  West. 

It  was  a  beautiful  spring  morning  ;  the  sweet 
song  of  the  birds  pierced  through  the  noise  of  the 
rolling  river  below,  the  air  was  fragrant  and  bracing, 
and  as  I  left  and  commenced  the  rocky  ascent 
leading  again  to  the  mountains,  the  barks  of  some 
fierce-disposed  canines,  who  alone  objected  to  my 
presence  among  the  hill-folk,  died  away  with  the 
rustle  of  the  leafage  in  a  keen  north  wind. 

One  of  my  men  was  poorly,  the  solitary  element 
to  disturb  the  equanimity  of  our  camp. 

It  was  Shanks.  He  had  been  suffering  from  tooth- 
ache, and  unfortunately  I   had   no  gum-balm  with 

310 


TALI-FU   TO    THE    MEKONG   VALLEY. 

me  ;  without  my  knowledge  Lao  Chang  had  rubbed 
in  some  strong  embrocation  to  the  fellow's  cheek,  so 
that  now,  in  addition  to  toothache,  he  had  also  a 
badly  blistered  face,  swollen  up  like  a  pudding. 
Upon  learning  that  I  had  no  means  of  curing  him  or 
of  alleviating  the  pain.  Shanks  bellowed  into  my  ear, 
loud  enough  to  bring  the  dead  out  of  the  grave- 
mounds  on  the  surrounding  hill-sides,  "  Puh  p'a  teh, 
puh  p'a  teh  ;  "  then,  raising  his  carrying-pole  to  the 
correct  angle  on  the  hump  on  his  back,  went  merrily 
forward,  warbling  some  squealing  Chinese  ditty. 
But  Shanks  was  the  songster  of  the  party.  He  often 
madly  disturbed  the  silence  of  middle  night  by  a 
sudden  outburst  into  song,  and  when  shouted  down 
by  others  who  lay  around,  or  kicked  by  the  man 
who  shared  his  bed,  and  whose  choral  propensities 
were  less  in  proportion,  he  would  laugh  wildly  at 
them  all.  Poor  Shanks ;  he  was  a  peculiar  mortal.  \ 
He  would  laugh  at  men  in  pain,  and  think  it  sym- 
pathy. If  we  could  get  no  food  or  drink  on  the 
march,  after  having  wearily  toiled  away  for  hours, 
he  would  not  be  disposed  to  grumble — he  would 
laugh.  Such  tragic  incidents  as  the  pony  jumping^ 
over  the  precipice  provoked  him  to  extreme  laughter.* 
And  when  I  caught  him  sewing  up  an  open  wound 
in  the  sole  of  his  foot  with  common  coloured  Chinese 
thread  and  a  rusty  needle,  and  told  him  that  he 
might  thereby  get  blood  poisoning,  and  lose  his  hfe 

*  The  day  before,  whilst  we  were  passing  along  the  edge  of  a 
cliff,  we  saw  a  deliberate  suicide  on  the  part  of  a  pony.  Getting 
away  from  its  companions,  it  first  jumped  against  a  tree,  then 
turned  its  head  sharply  on  the  side  of  a  cliff,  finally  taking  a 
leap  into  mid-air  over  the  precipice.  It  touched  ground  at  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  below  this  point,  and  then  rolled  out 
of  sight.  My  men  exhibited  no  concern,  and  laughed  me  down 
because  I  did.  It  was,  as  they  said,  merely  diseased,  and  the 
muleteers  went  on  their  way,  leaving  horse  and  loads  to  Provi- 
dence.    This  sort  «f  thing  is  not  uncommon. — E.  J.  D. 

311 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

or  leg,  he  cared  not  a  little.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he 
laughed  in  [my  face.  Not  at  me,  not  at  all,  but 
because  he  thought  his  laughter  might  probably 
delude  the  devil  who  was  president  over  the  ills  of 
that  particular  portion  of  human  anatomy.  He  '- 
came  to  me  just  outside  Pu-peng,  where  we  saw  a 
coffin  containing  a  corpse  resting  in  the  roadway 
whilst  the  bearers  refreshed  near  by  and,  pointing 
thereto,  told  me  that  the  man  was  "  muh  tsai  "  (not 
here) — the  Chinese  never  on  any  account  mention 
the  word  death — and  his  sides  shook  with  laughter, 
so  much  so  that  he  dropped  his  loads  alongside  the 
corpse,  and  startled  the  cock  on  top  of  the  coffin 
guarding  the  spirit  of  the  dead  into  a  vigorous  fit  of  < 
crowing  for  fear  of  disaster.  — ^ 

We  enjoyed  fairly  level  road,  although  rough, 
for  ten  li  after  leaving  T'ai-p'ing-p'u.  It  rose 
graduall}^  from  7,400  feet  to  8,500  feet,  and  then 
dipped  suddenly,  and  continued  at  a  fearful  down 
gradient.  I  might  describe  it  as  a  member  of 
a  British  infantry  regiment  once  described  to  me 
a  slope  on  the  Himalayas.  It  was  about  eight 
years  ago,  and  a  few  fellows  were  at  a  smoker 
given  to  some  Tommies  returning  from  India, 
when  a  bottle-nosed  individual,  talking  about  a  long 
march  his  battalion  had  made  up  the  Himalayas, 
in  excellent  descriptive  exclaimed,  "  'Twasn't  a 
'ill,  'twasn't  a  graydyent,  'twas  a  blooming  preci- 
pice, guvnor."  The  Himalayas  and  the  country 
I  am  now  describing  have  therefore  something  in 
common. 

Just  before  this  the  beautiful  mountains,  behind 
which  was  the  Tali-fu  Lake,  made  a  sight  worth 
coming  a  long  way  to  see. 

Midway  down  the  steep  hill  we  happened  on  some 

312 


TALI-FU    TO    THE    MEKONG    VALLEY. 

lonely  log  cottages,  twenty-five  li  from  T'ai-p'ing- 
p'u  (it  is  reckoned  as  thirty-five  li  travelling  in  the 
opposite  direction).  In  the  forest  district  I  found  the 
houses  all  built  of  timber — wood  piles  placed  hori- 
zontally and  dovetailed  at  the  ends,  the  roofs  being 
thatched.  You  have  merely  to  step  aside  from  the 
road,  and  you  are  in  dense  mountain  forest ;  it  is 
manifestly  easier  and  less  costly  than  the  mud-built 
habitation,  although  for  their  part  the  people  are 
worse  off  because  of  the  lack  of  available  ground 
for  growing  their  crops.  Here  the  people  were  still 
essentially  Lolo,  and  the  big-footed  women  who 
boiled  water  under  a  shed  had  difficulty  in  getting 
to  understand  what  my  men  were  talking  about. 

The  second  descent  is  begun  after  a  pleasant  walk 
along  level  ground  resembling  a  well-laid-out  estate, 
and  a  treacherously  rough  mile  brought  us  down  to  an 
iron  chain  bridge  swung  over  the  Shui-pi  Ho,  at  the  far 
end  of  which,  hidden  behind  bamboo  matting,  are  a 
few  idols  in  an  old  hut  ;  they  act  in  the  dual  capacity 
of  gods  of  the  river  and  the  mountain.  Tea  and  some 
palatable  baked  persimmon  —  very  like  figs  when 
baked — were  brought  me  by  an  awful-looking  biped 
who  was  still  in  mourning,  his  unshaven  skull  sadly 
betokening  the  fact.  As  I  sipped  my  tea  and  cracked"* 
jokes  with  some  Szech'wan  men  who  declared  they 
had  met  me  in  Chung-king  (I  must  resemble  in  appear- 
ance a  European  resident  in  that  city  ;  it  was  the 
fourth  time  I  had  been  accused  of  living  there),  I 
admired  the  grand  scenery  farther  along.  Especially 
did  I  notice  one  peak,  towering  perpendicularly  away 
up  past  woods  of  closely-planted  pine  and  fir  trees 
the  crystal  summit  glistening  with  sunht  snow  ;  as 
soon  as  I  started  again  on  my  journey,  I  was  pulling 
up  towards  it.     Soon  I  was  gazing  down  upon  the 

313 


ACROSS    CHINA   ON    FOOT. 

tiny  patches  of  light  green  and  a  few  soUtary 
cottages,  resembhng  a  httle  beehive,  and  one  could 
imagine  the  metaphorical  wax-laying  and  honey- 
making  of  the  inhabitants.  These  people  were  away 
from  all  mankind,  living  in  life-long  loneliness,  and 
all  unconscious  of^the  distinguished  foreigner  away  up 
yonder,  who  wondered  at  their  patient  toiling,  but 
who,  like  them,  had  his  Yesterday,  To-day,  and 
To-morrow.  There  they  were,  perched  high  up  on 
the  bleak  mountain  sides,  with  their  joys  and 
sorrows,  their  pains  and  penalties,  strugghng  along 
in  domestic  squalor,  and  rearing  young  rusticity 
and  raw  produce. 

On  these  mountains  in  Yiin-nan  one  sees  hundreds 
of  such  little  encampments  of  a  few  families,  passing 
their  existence  far  from  the  road  of  the  traveller,  who 
often  wished  he  could  descend  to  them  and  quench 
his  thirst,  and  eat  with  them  their  rice  and  maize. 
Most  of  them  here  were  isolated  famihes  of  tribes- 
people,  who,  out  of  contact  with  their  kind,  have 
little  left  of  racial  resemblance,  and  yet  are  not  fully 
Chinese,  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  tell  what  they 
really  are.     Most  were  Lolo. 

Walking  here  was  treacherous.  A  foot  pathway 
was  the  main  road,  winding  in  and  out  high  among 
the  surface  of  the  hills,  in  many  places  washed  away, 
and  in  others  overgrown  with  grass  and  shrubbery. 
"  Across  China  on  Foot  "  would  have  met  an  untimely 
end  had  I  made  a  false  step  or  slipped  on  the  loose 
stones  in  a  momentary  overbalance.  I  should  have 
rolled  down  seven  hundred  feet  into  the  Shui-pi  Ho. 
Once  during  the  morning  I  saw  my  coohes  high  up 
on  a  ledge  opposite  to  me,  and  on  practically  the 
same  level,  a  three-li  gully  dividing  us.  They  were 
very  small  men,  under  very  big  hats,  bustling  along 

314 


TALI-FU    TO    THE    MEKONG    VALLEY. 

like  busy  Lilliputians,  and  my  loads  looked  like 
match-boxes.  I  probably  looked  to  them  not  less 
grotesque.  But  we  had  to  watch  our  footsteps,  and 
not  each  other. 

We  were  rounding  a  corner,  when  I  was  sur- 
prised to  see  Hwan-lien-p'u  a  couple  of  li  away. 
The  fusong  were  making  considerable  hue  and  cry 
because  Rusty  had  rolled  thirty  feet  down  the 
incline,  and  as  I  looked  I  saw  the  animal  get  up  and 
commence  neighing  because  he  had  lost  sight  of  us. 
He  was  in  the  habit  of  wandering  on,  nibbling  a 
little  here  and  a  little  there,  and  rarely  gave 
trouble  unless  in  chasing  an  occasional  horse  cara- 
van, when  he  gave  my  men  some  fun  in  getting 
him  again  into  line. 

It  was  not  yet  midday,  and  we  had  four  hours' 
good  going.  So  I  calculated.  Not  so  my  men. 
They  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  budge, 
and  knowing  the  Chinese  just  a  little,  I  reluctantly 
kept  quiet.  It  was  entirely  unreasonable  to 
expect  them  to  go  on  to  Ch'u-tung,  ninety  li 
away — it  was  impossible.  And  I  learnt  that  the 
reason  they  would  not  go  on  was  that  no  house  this 
side  of  that  place  was  good  enough  to  put  a  horse  into, 
even  a  Chinese  horse,  and  they  would  not  dream  of 
taking  me  on  under  those  conditions.  There  was  not 
even  a  hut  available  for  the  traveller,  so  they  said. 
I  had  come  over  difficult  country,  plodding  upwards 
on  tiptoe  and  then  downwards  with  a  lazy  swing 
from  stone  to  stone  for  miles.  Throughout  the  day 
we  had  been  going  through  fine  mountain  forest, 
everywhere  peaceful  and  beautiful,  but  it  had  been 
hard  going.  In  the  morning  a  heavy  frost  lay  thick 
and  white  about  us,  and  by  10.30  a.m.  the  sun  was 
playing  down  upon  us  with  a  merciless  heat  as  we 

3^5 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

tramped  over  that  little  red  line  through  the  green 
of  the  hillsides.  Often  in  this  march  was  I  tempted 
to  stay  and  sit  down  on  the  sward,  but  I  had  proved 
this  to  be  fatal  to  walking.  In  travelling  in  Yiin-nan 
one's  practice  should  be  :  start  early,  have  as  few 
stops  as  possible,  when  a  stop  is  made  let  it  be  long 
enough  for  a  real  rest.  In  Szech'wan,  where  the  tea 
houses  are  much  more  frequent,  men  will  pull  up 
every  ten  li,  and  generally  make  ten  minutes  of  it. 
In  Yiin-nan  these  welcome  refreshment  houses  are 
not  met  with  so  often,  and  little  inducement  is  held 
out  for  the  coolies  to  stop,  but  upon  the  slightest 
provocation  they  will  stop  for  a  smoke.  On  this 
walking  trip  I  made  it  a  rule  to  be  off  by  seven 
o'clock,  stop  twice  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  up  to 
tiffin  (my  men  stopped  oftener),  when  our  rest  was 
often  for  an  hour,  so  that  we  were  all  refreshed  and 
ready  to  push  on  for  the  fag-end  of  the  stage.  We 
generally  were  done  by  four  or  five  o'clock.  And 
I  should  be  the  last  in  the  world  to  deny  that  by 
this  time  I  had  had  enough  for  one  day. 

Upon  arrival  I  immediately  washed  my  feet,  an 
excellent  practice  of  the  Chinese,  changed  my  foot- 
gear, drank  many  cups  of  tea,  and  often  went 
straight  to  my  p'ukai.  The  roads  of  China  take  it 
out  of  the  strongest  man.  There  are  no  Mara- 
thon runners  here  ;  progress  is  a  tedious  toil, 
■■  often  on  all  fouis. 

My  room  at  Hv/an-lien-p'u  was  near  a  telegraph 
pole;  there  was  a  telegraph  slation  there,  where  my 
men  showed  their  admiration  for  the  Governmental 
organisation  by  at  once  hammering  nails  into  the 
pole.  It  was  close  to  their  laundry,  and  served 
admirably  for  the  clothes-line,  a  bamboo  tied  at  one 
end  with  a  string  to  a  nail  in  the  pole  and  the  other 

316 


L  ndnlating  country  just   beyond   lali-fn. 


The  Shnn-pi  beyond  Yang-pi. 


^ 

^CU 

^■^ 

"^  a 

~*^ 

^  So 

:::; 

C    0 

_  ^ 

<U    0 

~ 

2'ph 

"S 

^  0-. 

a* 

■ft| 

:^ 

0  s 

s^ 

o' 

<:i' 

tic  f- 

<u 

rt  <u 

^ 

« 

O 

a>   >> 

^C 

M-^n 

u 


TALI-FU    TO    THE    MEKONG    VALLEY. 

end  stuck  through  the  paper  in  the  window  of  the 
telegraph  operator's  apartment.  But  this  is  nothing. 
Years  ago,  when  the  telegraph  was  first  laid  down,  the 
people  took  turns  to  displace  the  wires  and  sell  them 
for  their  trouble,  and  to  chop  the  poles  up  for  fire- 
wood. It  continued  for  a  considerable  period,  until 
an  offender — or  one  whom  it  was  surmised  had  done 
this  or  would  have  done  it  if  he  could — had  his  ears 
cut  off,  and  was  led  over  the  main  road  to  the  capital, 
to  be  admired  by  any  compatriot  contemplating  a 
deal  in  wiring  or  timber  used  for  telegraphic  com- 
munication purposes. 

Just  below  the  town  the  river  ran  peacefully  down 
a  gradual  incline.  I  decided  that  a  comfortable  seat 
under  a  tree,  spending  an  hour  in  preparing  this 
copy,  would  be  more  pleasant  than  moping  about  a 
noisome  and  stench-ridden  inn,  providing  precious 
little  in  the  way  of  entertainment  for  the  foreigner. 
Next  door  a  wedding  party  was  making  the  afternoon 
hideous  with  their  gongs  and  drums  and  crackers, 
and  everywhere  the  usual  hue  and  ciy  went 
abroad  because  a  European  was  spending  the  day 
there. 

I  imparted  to  my  man  my  intentions  for  the  after- 
noon. Immediately  preparations  were  set  on  foot  to 
get  me  down  by  the  river,  and  it  was  pubhcly  an- 
nounced to  the  townspeople.  The  news  ran  through- 
out the  town,  that  is  Hwan-Ken-p'u's  one  little 
narrow  street,  a  sad  mixture  of  a  military  trench 
and  a  West  of  England  cobbled  court.  And  instead 
of  going  alone  to  my  shady  nook  by  that  silvery 
stream,  I  was  accompanied  by  nine  adult  members 
of  the  unemployed  band,  three  boys,  and  sundry 
stark-naked  urchins  who  seemed  to  be  without  home 
or  habitation.     One  of  these  specimens  of  fleeting 

317 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

friendship  was  one-eyed,  and  a  diseased  hip  rendered 
it  difficult  for  him  to  keep  pace  with  us  ;  one  was 
club-footed,  one  hair-lipped  fellow  had  only  half  a 
nose,  and  they  were  nearly  all  goitrous.  As  I  write 
now  these  people,  curious  but  not  uncouth,  are 
crouched  around  me  on  their  haunches,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  ape,  their  more  Darwinian-evolved 
companion  and  his  shorthand  notes  being  admired 
by  an  open-mouthed  crowd.  Down  below  my  horse 
is  entertaining  the  more  hilarious  of  the  party  in  his 
tantrums  with  the  man  who  is  trying  to  wash  him — 
the  horses,  like  the  people,  rarely  get  a  wash.  Lao 
Chang  is  at  the  inn  preparing  food  for  the  evening. 
I  left  the  well-conditioned  stripling  of  a  soldier  doing 
his  best  to  mash  a  girl  in  charge  of  some  sewing  ; 
Shanks  went  immediately  to  his  lair  of  straw,  and  is 
probably  snoring  now  Hke  a  hog. 

So  the    time    passes,    and    I — I    look   on  it   all, 
seeing  all  and  yet  knowing  that  I  can  understand 
i  hardly  anything  I  see. 

r'And,  incidentally,  they  too  see  all,  for  there  is  no 
privacy.  Later  in  the  evening  I  was  sitting  in  my 
room  reading,  and  in  walked,  unasked,  three  respect- 
able fellows  who  wished  to  see  me  and  my  foreign 
things.  The  door  was  open,  so  they  came  in,  bowed, 
and  began  to  pick  up  one  article  after  another,  passing 
inane  remarks  upon  things  of  which  they  had  not  the 
knowledge  of  a  child.  It  is  usual  in  China  so  to  act 
— your  house,  your  room,  your  domicile  wherever  it 
may  be,  is  not  your  own.  There  is  no  real  soli- 
tude to  be  had.  If  you  are  out  alone,  seeing 
nobody  about,  you  may  decide  to  sit  down,  by  the 
wayside  ;  in  less  than  five  minutes  the  usual  admirers 
are  gathered.  Out  they  come  from  Heaven  knows 
where — they  really  seem  to  come  out  of  the  earth 

318 


TALI-FU   TO    THE    MEKONG   VALLEY. 

like  mushrooms,  and  when  you  go  they  as  quickly 
disappear. 

This  lack  of  privacy  is  distinctly  disappointing — 
personally,   I  cannot  get  used  to  it.     The  Chinese 
as    a    people    have    no    privacy,    do    not     know 
what    it    means,    and   the   language   has   no   word 
exactly     corresponding    with     the     English     term. 
Nobody   knocks    before   entering    your  room,    and 
nobody  seems   ashamed   of   fellow -man   or  fellow- 
woman.     Whatever  is  done  is  done  after  a  fashion 
in  pubHc.     My  personal  habits,  my  foibles,  my  likes, 
my  disHkes  are  known  to  everyone.     Here  in  China 
vices  or  virtues  cannot  be  hidden — there  is  nowhere 
to  hide  them  (I  speak  of  the  lives  of  the  common 
milHons).     And   yet   I   must   confess   flatly,   whilst 
everything  is  open  and  can  be  seen,  I  cannot  come 
to  one  finite,  concrete  opinion  on  any  given  point  of 
Chinese   character.     As   I   ruminate   over  my   own 
civilisation    and    theirs,    I    am   overwhelmed   with 
amusement  and  surprise  at  the  antipodal  differences 
of  the  two.     Every  visible  expression,  every  mode  of 
thought,  every  conception  of  the  material  and  the 
spiritual  world,  all  are  different  to  mine.     But  the 
more  one  becomes  accustomed  to  the  externals  of 
Chinese  fife  one  forgets  its  comical  side,  and  in  pro- 
portion as  one  becomes  familiar  with  the  language, 
modes     of     thought     and     feeling,     and     business 
methods,   does   he   reahse   the   gulf  separating   the 
Orient  from  the  West.     My  definition  of  a  Chinaman 
is  that  he  is  a  Chinaman,  and  it  becomes  the  only  \ 

ultimate  explanation  !  3l 

Meanwhile,  of  the  three  good  fellows  who,  joyous 
and  full  of  hope,  started  with  me  from  Tong-ch'uan-fu, 
two  were  now  sick  and  no  longer  smiling.  I  stood 
gazing   at    them    in    unsympathetic   astonishment. 

319 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

What  was  the  meaning  of  it  all  ?  Whereto  was  it 
leading  ?  They  drew  to  me  in  brotherly  confidence  : 
they  had  no  cash,  no  'baccy,  and  a  string  on  which 
their  cash  should  have  been  and  the  pipe  which  served 
for  the  general  use  of  the  party  were  shown  as  evidence 
thereof.  Their  digestive  faculty  was  sound ;  it  was 
the  purse  that  needed  replenishment,  to  raise  their 
spirits  and  cure  their  stomachs. 

It  was  replenished,  and  we  proceeded  again  with 
light  hearts  and  smiling  faces. 


320 


^13 


t: 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

The  mountains  of  Yiin-nan.  Wonderful  scenery.  Among 
the  Mohammedans.  Sorry  scene  at  Ch'u-tung.  A  hero  of 
a  horrid  past.  Infinite  depth  of  Chinese  character.  Mule 
falls  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards,  and  escapes  unhurt. 
Advice  to  future  travellers.  To  Shayung.  We  meet 
Tibetans  on  the  mountains.  Chinese  cruelty.  Opium 
smoker  as  a  companion.  Opium  refugees.  One  opinion 
only  on  the  subject.  Mission  work  among  smokers  and 
eaters. 

Mere  words  are  a  feeble  means  to  employ  to  describe 
the  mountains  of  Yiin-nan.  o 

As  I  start  from  Hwan-lien-p'u  this  morning,  to  the 
left  high  hills  are  picturesquely  darkened  in  the  soft 
and  unruffled  solemnity  of  their  own  still  unbroken 
shade.  Opposite,  rising  in  pretty  wavy  undulation, 
with  occasional  abruptions  of  jagged  rock  and  sunken 
hollow,  the  steep  hill-sides  are  brought  out  in  the 
brightest  colouring  of  delicate  hght  and  shade  by 
the  golden  orb  of  early  morn  ;  towering  majestically 
sunwards,  sheer  up  in  front  of  me,  high  above  all  else, 
still  more  sombre  heights  stand  out  powerfully  in 
solemn  contrast  against  the  pale  blue  of  the  spring  ,  c^  -cW^'V • 
sky,  the  effect  in  the  distance  being  antithetical  and 
weird,  with  the  magnificent  Ts'ang  Shan*  standing 
up  as  a^beautiful  background  of  perpendicular  white, 
from  whence  range  upon  range  of  dark  lines  loom 
out  in  the  hazy  atmosphere.  From  the  extreme 
summit  of  one  snow-laden  peak,  whose  white  steeple 
seems  truly  a  heavenward-directed  linger,  I  gaze 
abstractedly    all    around    upon    nothing    but    dark 

*  The  range  of  mountains  which  I  had  skirted  since  leaving 
TaU-fu.— E.  J.  D. 

321 
22 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

masses  of  gently-waving  hills,  steep,  weary  ascents 
and  descents,  green  and  gold,  and  yellow  and  brown, 
and  one's  eyes  rest  upon  a  maze  of  thin  white  lines 
intertwining  them  all.  These  are  the  main  roads. 
I  am  alone.  My  men  are  far  behind.  I  am  awed 
with  an  unnatural  sense  of  bewildered  wonderment 
in  the  midst  of  all  this  glory  of  the  earth, 
r  Everything  is  so  vast,  so  grand,  so  overpowering. 
Murmurings  of  the  birds  alone  break  the  sense  of 
sadness  and  loneliness.  Away  yonder  full-grown 
pine  trees,  if  discernible  at  all,  are  dwarfed  so  as  to 
appear  like  long  coarse  grass.  For  some  thirty  11 
the  road  runs  through  beautiful  woods,  high  above 
the  valleys  and  the  noise  of  the  river;  and  now  we 
are  running  down  swiftly  to  a  point  where  two 
ranges  meet,  only  to  toil  on  again,  slowly  and 
wearily,  up  an  awful  gradient  for  two  hours  or  more. 
But  the  labour  and  all  its  fatiguing  arduousness  are 
nothing  when  one  gets  to  the  top,  for  one  beholds 
here  one  of  the  most  magnificent  mountain  panoramas 
in  all  West  China.  Far  away,  just  peeping  prettily 
from  the  silvered  edges  of  the  bursting  clouds,  are 
the  giant  peaks  which  separate  Tali-fu  from  Yang-pi — 
white  giants  with  rugged,  cruel  edges  pointing 
upwards,  piercing  the  clouds  asunder  as  a  ship's 
bow  pierces  the  billows  of  the  deep  ;  and  then, 
gradually  coming  from  out  the  mist,  are  no  less  than 
eight  distinct  ranges  of  mountains  from  14.000  feet 
to  16,000  feet  high,  besides  innumerable  minor 
heights,  which  we  have  traversed  with  much  labour 
during  the  past  four  days,  all  rich  with  colouring  and 
natural  grandeur  seen  but  seldom  in  all  the  world. 
Switzerland  could  offer  nothing  finer,  nothing  more 
sweeping,  nothing  more  beautiful,  nothing  more 
awe-inspiring.     With  the  glorious  grandeur  of  these 

322 


TALI-FU    TO    THE    MEKONG    VALLEY. 

wondrous  hills,  rising  and  falling  playfully  around 
the  main  ranges,  the  marvellous  tree  growth,  the 
delicate  contrasts  of  the  formidable  peaks  and  the 
dainty,  cultivated  valleys,  and  the  face  of  Nature 
everywhere  absolutely  unmarred,  Switzerland  could 
in  no  way  compare. 

Is  it  then  surprising  that  I  look  upon  these 
stupendous  masses  with  wonder,  which  seem  to 
breathe  only  eternity  and  immensity  ? 

The  air  is  pure  as  the  breath  of  heaven,  all  is  still 
and  peaceful,  and  the  fact  that  in  the  very  nature 
of  things  one  cannot  rush  through  this  pervading 
beauty  of  the  earth,  but  has  to  plod  onwards  step 
by  step  along  a  toilsome  roadway,  enables  the 
scenery  to  be  so  impressed  upon  one's  mind  as  to 
be  focussed  for  life  in  one's  memory.  One  is 
held  spellbound ;  these  are  the  pictures  never 
forgotten.  Here  T  sit  in  a  corner  of  the  earth  as  old 
as  the  world  itself.  These  mountains  are  as  they 
were  in  the  great  beginning,  when  the  Creator  and 
Sustainer  of  all  things  pure  and  beautiful  looked 
upon  His  handiwork  and  saw  that  it  was  good. 

The  country  here  seems  so  vast  as  to  render 
Nature  unconquerable  by  man  :  man  is  insignificant. 
Nature  is  triumphant.  Railways  are  defied  ;  and 
these  mountains,  running  mostly  at  right  angles,  will 
probably  never — not  in  our  time,  at  least — be  made 
unsightly  by  the  puffing  and  the  reeking  of  the 
modern  railway  engine.  They  present  so  many 
natural  obstacles  to  the  opening-up  of  the  country^ 
according  to  the  standard  we  Westerners  lay  down, 
that  one  would  hesitate  to  prophesy  any  mode  of 
traffic  here  other  than  that  of  the  horse  caravan  and 
human  beast  of  burden.  Nature  seems  to  look  down 
upon  man  and  his  earth-scouring  contrivances,  and 

323 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

assert,  "  Man,  begone  !     I  will  have  none  of  thee." 
And  the  mountains  turn  upwards  to  the  sky  in  silent 
reverence  to  their  Maker,  whose  work  must  in  the 
/  main  remain  unchanged  until  eternity. 

It  is  now  12.30,  and  we  have  fifty  li  to  cover  before 
reaching  Ch'u-tung.  We  sit  here  to  feed  at  a  place 
called  Siao-shui-tsing,  a  sorry  antediluvian  make- 
shift of  a  building,  where  in  subsequent  travel  I 
was  hung  up  in  bitter  weather  and  had  to  pass  the 
night.  The  people,  courteous  and  civil  as  always, 
show  a  simple  trustfulness  with  which  is  associated 
some  little  suspicion.  I  gave  a  cake  to  a  little  child, 
but  its  mother  would  not  allow  it  to  be  eaten  until 
she  was  again  and  again  assured  and  reassured  that 
it  was  quite  fit  to  eat.  This  home  life  of  the  very 
poor  Chinese,  if  indeed  it  may  be  called  home  life, 
has  a  listlessness  about  it  in  marked  contrast  to  that 
"^  of  the  West.  There  is  little  housework,  no  furniture 
more  than  a  table  and  chair  or  two,  and  the  simplicity 
of  the  cooking  arrangements  does  not  tend  to  increase 
the  work  of  the  housewife. 

People  here  to-day  are  going  about  their  work 
with  a  restful  deliberation  very  trying  to  one  in  a 
hurry.  The  women,  with  infants  tied  to  their  backs, 
do  not  work  hard  but  very  long.  A  mud-house  is 
being  built  near  by,  and  between  the  cooking  and 
attending  to  passing  travellers,  two  women  are 
digging  the  earth  and  filling  up  the  baskets,  while  the 
men  are  mixing  the  mud,  filUng  in  the  oblong  wooden 
trough,  and  thus  building  the  wall.  At  my  elbow  a 
man — old  and  grizzled  and  dirty — is  turning  back 
roll  upon  roll  of  his  wadded  garments,  and  ridding  it 
of  as  many  as  he  can  find  of  the  insects  with  which 
it  IS  infested.  A  slobbering,  boss-eyed  cretin  chops 
wood  at  my  side,  and  when  I  rise  to  try  a  snap  on  the 

324 


TALI-FU    TO    THE    MEKONG    VALLEY. 

women  and  the  children  they  hide  behind  the  walls. 
Thus  my  time  passes  away,  as  I  wait  for  the  coolies 
who  sit  on  a  log  in  the  open  road  feeding  on  common 
basins  of  dry  rice. 

After  that  we  had  to  cross  the  face  of  a  steep  hill. 
We  could,  however,  find  no  road,  no  pathway  even, 
but  could  merely  see  the  scratchings  of  coolies  and 
ponies  already  crossed.  It  was  an  achievement  not 
unrisky,  but  we  managed  to  reach  the  other  side 
without  mishap.  My  horse,  owing  to  the  stupidity  of 
the  man  who  hung  on  to  his  mouth  to  steady  himself, 
put  his  foot  in  a  hole  and  dragged  the  fool  of  a  fellow 
some  twenty  yards  downwards  in  the  mud.  My 
coolies,  themselves  in  a  spot  most  dangerous  to  their 
own  necks,  stuck  the  outside  leg  deep  in  the  mud  to 
rest  themselves,  and  set  to  assiduously  in  blackguard- 
ing the  man  in  their  richest  vein,  then,  extricating 
themselves,  again  continued  their  journey,  satisfied 
that  they  had  shown  the  proper  front,  and  saved  the 
face  of  the  foreigner  who  could  not  save  it  for  himself. 
Then  we  all  went  down  through  a  narrow  ravine  into 
a  lovely  shady  glade,  all  green  and  refreshing,  with  a 
brook  gurgling  sweetly  at  the  foot  and  birds  singing 
in  the  foliage.  There  was  something  very  quaint 
in  this  cosy  comer,  with  the  hideous  echoes  and  weird 
re-echoes  of  my  men's  squealing.  Then  we  went  on 
again  from  hill  to  hill,  in  a  ten-inch  footway,  broken 
and  washed  away,  so  that  in  places  it  was  necessary 
to  hang  on  to  the  evergrowing  grass  to  keep  one's 
footing  in  the  slopes.  One  needs  to  have  no  nerves 
in  China. 

Down  in  the  valley  were  a  number  of  muleteers 
from  Burma,  cooking  their  rice  in  copper  pans,  whilst 
their  ponies,  most  of  them  in  horrid  condition,  and 
backs  rubbed  in  some  places  to  the  extent  of  twelve 

325 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

inches  square,  grazed  on  the  hill-sides.  In  most 
places  the  foot  of  this  ravine  would  have  been  a 
river  ;  here  it  was  like  a  park,  with  pretty  green 
sward  intersected  by  a  narrow  path  leading  down 
into  a  lane  so  thick  with  virgin  growth  as  to  exclude 
the  sunlight.  As  we  entered  a  man  came  out  with 
his  p'ukai  and  himself  on  the  back  of  a  ten-hand 
pony  ;  the  animal  shied,  and  his  manservant  got 
behind  and  laid  on  mighty  blows  with  the  butt-end 
of  a  gun  he  was  carrying.     The  pony  ceased  shying. 

To  Ch'u-tung  was  a  tedious  journey,  rising  and 
falling  across  the  wooded  hills,  and  when  we  arrived 
at  some  cottages  by  the  riverside,  the  fusong*  had  a 
rough  time  of  it  from  my  men  for  having  brought 
us  by  a  long  road  instead  of  by  the  "  new  "  road 
(so  called,  although  I  do  not  doubt  that  it  has  been  in 
use  for  many  generations).  Some  Szech'wan  coolies 
and  myself  had  rice  together  on  a  low  form  away 
from  the  smoke,  and  the  while  listened  to  some  tales 
of  old,  told  by  some  half-witted,  goitrous  monster 
who  seemed  sadly  out  at  elbow.  The  soldier  mean- 
time smelt  round  for  a  smoke.  As  he  and  my  men 
had  decided  a  few  moments  ago  that  each  party  was 
of  a  very  low  order  of  humanity,  their  pipes  for  him 
were  not  available.  So  he  took  pipe  and  dried  leaf 
tobacco  from  this  half-witted  skunk,  who,  having 
wiped  the  stem  in  his  eight-inch-long  pants,  handed  it 
over  in  a  manner  befitting  a  monarch.  It  measured 
some  sixty  or  seventy  inches  from  stem  to  bowl. 

From  Hwan-lien-p'u  to  Ch'u-tung  is  reckoned  as 
eighty  li ;  it  is  quite  one  hundred  and  ten,  and  the 
last  part  of  the  journey,  over  barren,  wind-swept  hills, 
most  fatiguing. 

In  contrast  to  the  beauty  of  the  morning's  scenery, 

*  See  Note  on  page  ^2- 
326 


TALI-FU    TO    THE    MEKONG    VALLEY. 

the  country  was  black  and  bare,  and  a  gale  blew  in  our 
faces.  My  spirits  were  raised,  however,  by  a  coolie 
who  joined  us  and  who  had  a  remarkable  knowledge 
of  the  whole  of  the  West  of  China,  from  Chungking 
to  Singai,  from  Mengtsz  to  Tachien-lu.  Plied  with 
questions,  he  willingly  gave  his  answers,  but  he 
would  persist  in  leading  the  way.  As  soon  as  a  man 
endeavoured  to  pass  him,  he  would  trot  off  at  a 
wonderful  speed,  making  no  ado  of  the  120  pounds  of 
China  pots  on  his  back,  yelling  his  explanations  all 
the  time  to  the  man  behind.  Yung-p'ing-hsien  lay 
over  to  the  right,  fifteen  li  from  Ch'u-tung,  which  is 
protected  from  the  elements  by  a  bell-shaped  hill 
at  the  foot  of  a  mountain  lit  up  with  gold  from  the 
sinking  sun,  which  dipped  as  I  trudged  along  the 
uneven  zigzag  road  leading  across  the  plain  of  peas  and 
beans  and  winter  crops.  Four  eight-inch  planks,  placed 
at  various  dangerous  angles  on  three  wood  trestles, 
form  the  bridge  across  the  fifty-foot  stream  dividing 
Ch'u-tung  from  the  world  on  the  opposite 
side.  Across  this  I  saw  men  wander  with  their 
loads,  and  then  I  led  Rusty  in.  Whilst  the  stream 
washed  his  legs,  I  sat  dangling  mine  until  called  upon 
to  make  way  for  another  party  of  travellers.  Re- 
markable is  the  agility  of  these  men.  They  swing 
along  over  eight  inches  of  wood  as  if  they  were  in 
the  middle  of  a  well-paved  road. 

Ch'u-tung  is  a  Mohammedan  town.  There  are  a 
few  Chinese  only — Buddhists,  Taoists  and  other 
rag-tags  ;  although  when  the  follower  of  the  Prophet 
has  his  pigtail  attached  to  the  inside  of  his  hat,  as  is 
not  unusual  when  he  goes  out  fully  dressed,  there  is 
little  difference  between  him  and  the  Chinaman. 

Pigs  here  are  conspicuously  absent.  People  feed 
on  poultry  and  beef.     I  rested  in  this  city  some 

327 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

month  or  so  after  my  first  overland  trip  whilst  my 
man  went  to  convert  silver  into  cash,*  a  trying  ordeal 
always.  Whilst  I  sipped  my  tea  and  ate  a  couple  of 
rice  cakes,  I  was  impressed,  as  I  seldom  have  been  in 
my  wanderings,  with  the  remarkable  number  of 
people,  from  the  six  hundred  odd  houses  the  town 
possesses,  who  during  that  half-hour  found  nothing 
whatever  to  do  to  benefit  themselves  or  Uhe 
community,  as  members  of  which  they  passed 
monotonous  lives,  but  to  stare  aimlessly  at  the 
resting  foreigner.  The  report  spread  like  wildfire, 
and  they  ran  to  the  scene  with  haste,  pulling  on  their 
coats,  wiping  food  from  their  mouths,  scratching 
their  heads  en  route,  one  trouser-leg  up  and  the  other 
down,  all  anxious  to  get  a  seat  near  the  stage.  A 
river  flows  down  the  centre  of  the  street,  and  into 
this  a  sleepy  fellow  got  tipped  bodily  in  the  crush, 
sat  down  in  the  water,  seemingly  in  no  hurry  to  move 
until  he  had  finished  his  vigorous  bullying  of  the 
man  who  pushed  him  in.  Those  who  could  not  get 
standing  room  near  my  table  went  out  into  the 
street  and  shaded  the  sun  from  their  eyes,  in  order 
that  they  might  catch  even  a  glimpse  of  the  traveller 
who  sat  on  in  uncompromising  indifference. 

Several  old  wags  were  there  who  had^witnessed 
the  Rebellion — at  the  moment,  had  I  not  become 
callous,  another  might  have  seemed  imminent — and 
were  looked  up  to  by  the  crowd  as  heroes  of  a  horrid 
past,  being  hstened  to  with  rapt  attention  as  they 
described  what  it  was  the  crowd  looked  at  and 
whence  it  came.  Had  I  been  a  wild  animal  let  loose 
from  its  cage,  mingled  curiosity  and  a  peculiar  fore- 
boding among  the  people  of  something  terrible  about 
to  happen  could  not  have  been  more  intense. 

*  See  Appendix  K. 
328 


TALI-FU    TO    THE    MEKONG    VALLEY. 

But  I  had  by  this  time  got  used  to  their  crowdings 
so  that  I  could  write,  sleep,  eat,  drink  and  be  merry, 
and  go  through  personal  and  private  routine  with  no 
embarrassment.  If  I  turned  for  the  purpose,  I  could 
easily  stare  out  of  face  a  member  of  the  crowd  whose 
inquisitive  propensities  had  become  annoying,  but 
as  soon  as  he  left  another  filled  the  gap.  Quite 
pitiful  was  it  to  see  how  trivial  articles  of  foreign 
manufacture — such,  for  instance,  as  the  cover  of  an 
ordinary  tin  or  the  fabric  of  one's  clothing — 
brought  a  regular  deluge  of  childish  interest  and  inane 
questioning  ;  and  if  I  happened  to  make  a  few 
shorthand  notes  upon  anything  making  a  particular 
impression,  a  look  half  surprised,  half  amused,  went 
from  one  to  another  like  an  electric  current.  Had 
I  been  scheming  out  celestial  hieroglyphics  their 
mouths  could  not  have  opened  wider.  As  I  write 
now  I  am  asked  by  a  respectable  person  how  many 
ounces  of  silver  a  Johann  Faber's  B.B.  costs.  I 
have  told  him,  and  he  has  retired  smiHng,  evidently 
thinking  that  I  am  romancing. 

That  I  impress  the  crowd  everywhere  is  evident. 
But  with  all  their  questioning,  they  are  rarely  rude  ; 
their  stare  is  simply  the  stare  of  little  children  seeing 
a  thing  for  the  first  time  in  their  lives.  It  is  all  so 
hard  to  understand.  My  silver  and  my  gold  they 
solicit  not ;  they  merely  desire  to  see  me  and  to 
feel  me.  A  certain  faction  of  the  crowd,  however, 
do  solicit  my  silver. 

Lao  Chang  has  been  buying  vegetables,  and  has 
brought  all  the  vegetable  gardeners  and  greengrocers 
around  me.  The  poultry  rearers  are  here  too,  and 
the  forage  dealers  and  the  grass  cutters  and  the 
basket  makers,  and  other  thrifty  members  of  the 
commercial  order  of  Ch'u-tung  humankind.     When 

329 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

I  came  away  the  people  dropped  into  line  and 
strained  their  necks  to  get  a  parting  smile.  I  was 
sped  on  my  way  with  a  public  curiosity  as  if  I  were  a 
penal  servitor  released  from  prison,  a  general  home 
from  a  war,  or  something  of  that  kind.  And  so  this 
wonderful  wonder  of  wonders  was  glad  when  he 
emerged  from  the  labyrinthic,  brain-confusing 
bewilderment  of  Chinese  interior  life  of  this  town 
into  somewhat  clearer  regions.  I  could  not  under- 
stand. And  to  the  wisest  man,  wide  as  may  be  his 
vision,  the  Chinese  mind  and  character  remain  of  a 
depth  as  infinite  as  is  its  possibility  of  expansion. 
The  volume  of  Chinese  nature  is  one  of  which  as 
yet  but  the  alphabet  is  known  to  us. 

My  own  men  had  got  quite  used  to  me,  and 
their  minds  were  directed  more  to  working  than  to 
wondering.  In  China,  as  in  other  Asiatic  countries, 
one's  companions  soon  accustom  themselves  to  one's 
little  peculiarities  of  character,  and  what  was 
miraculous  to  the  crowd  had  by  simple  repetition 
ceased  to  be  miraculous  with  them. 

As  I  put  away  my  notebook  after  writing  the  last 
sentence,  I  saw  a  mule  shp,  fall,  roll  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards,  losing  its  load  on  the  down  journey, 
and  then  walk  up  to  the  stream  for  a  drink.* 

*  On  my  return  journey  into  Yun-nan,  I  again  called  at  Ch'u- 
tung,  travelling  not  by  the  main  road,  but  by  a  steep  path 
intertwisting  through  almost  impossible  places,  and  requiring 
four  times  the  amount  of  physical  exertion.  I  was  led  over  what 
was  called  a  new  road.  It  was  quite  impossible  to  horses  carrying 
loads,  and  only  by  tremendous  effort  could  I  climb  up.  How  my 
coolies  managed  it  remains  a  mystery.  And  then,  as  is  almost 
inevitable  with  these  "  new  "  roads  and  the  "  short  "  cuts,  they 
invariably  lose  their  way.  Mine  did.  Hopeless  was  our  obscurity, 
unspeakable  our  confusion.  Men  kept  vanishing  and  re-appearing 
among  the  rocks,  and  it  was  very  difficult  to  fix  our  position  geo- 
graphically. Up  and  up  we  went,  in  and  out,  twisting  and  turning 
in  an  endless  climb.  A  gale  blew,  but  at  times  we  pulled  ourselves 
up  by  the  dried  grass  in  semi-tropical  heat.  After  several  hours, 
standing  on  the  very  summit  of  this  bleak  and  lofty  mountain,  I 

330 


TALI-FU    TO    THE    MEKONG    VALLEY. 

We  started  for  Shayung  on  February  2nd,  1910, 
going  over  a  road  literally  uncared  for,  full  of  loose- 
jointed  stones  and  sinking  sand,  down  which  ponies 
scrambled,  while  the  Tibetans  in  charge  covered  them- 
selves close  in  the  uncured  skins  they  wore.  This 
was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  seen  Tibetans.  They 
had  huge  ear-rings  in  their  ears,  and  their  antiquated 
topboots — much  better,  however,  than  the  Yiin-nan 
topboot — gave  them  a  peculiar  appearance  as  they 
tramped  downward  in  the  frost. 

Going  up  with  us  was  a  Chinaman,  on  the  back  of 
a  pony  not  more  than  eleven  hands  high,  sitting  as 
usual  with  his  paraphernalia  lashed  to  the  back  of 
the  animal.  He  laughed  at  me  because  I  was  not 
riding,  whilst  I  tried  to  solve  the  problem  of  that 
indefinable  trait  of  Chinese  nature  which  leads  able- 
bodied  men  with  sound  feet  to  sit  on  these  little 
brutes  up  those  terrible  mountain  sides.  Some  parts 
of  this  spur  were  much  steeper  than  the  roof  of  a 
house — as  perpendicular  as  can  be  imagined — but  still 
this  man  held  on  all  the  way.  And  the  Chinese  do 
it  continuously,  whether  the  pony  is  lame  or  not, 
at  least  the  majority.  But  the  cruelty  of  the 
Chinese  is  probably  not  regarded  as  cruelty,  certainly 
not  in  the  sense    of    cruelty  in    the  West.      Being 

could  just  discern  Ch'u-tung  and  Yung-p'ing-hsien  far  away 
down  in  the  mists.  There  lay  the  "  ta  lu  "  also,  like  a  piece  of 
white  ribbon  stretched  across  black  velvet — the  white  road  on 
the  burnt  hill-sides.  We  were  opposite  the  highest  peaks  in  the 
mountains  beyond  the  plain,  far  towards  Tengyueh — they  are 
12,000  feet,  we  were  at  least  10,500  feet,  and  as  Ch'u-tung  is  only 
5,500  feet,  our  hours  of  toil  may  be  imagined.  When  we  reached 
the  top  we  found  nothing  to  eat,  nothing  to  drink  (not  even  a 
mountain  stream  at  which  we  could  moisten  our  parched  lips), 
simply  two  memorial  stones  on  the  graves  of  two  dead  men,  who 
had  merited  such  an  outrageous  resting-place.  I  donned  a 
sweater  and  lay  flat  on  the  ground,  exhausted.  It  must  have 
been  a  stiff  job  to  bring  up  both  stones  and  men. 

I  strongly  advise  future  travellers  to  keep  to  the  main  road  in 
this  district.— E.J.  D. 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

Chinese,  with  customs  and  laws  of  life  such  as  they 
are,  their  instinct  of  cruelty  is  excusable  to  some 
degree.  Not  only  is  it  with  animals,  however,  but 
among  themselves  the  Chinese  have  no  mercy,  no- 
sympathy.  In  Christian  England  within  the  last 
century  men  were  hanged  for  petty  theft ;  but  in  Yiin- 
nan — I  do  not  know  whether  it  is  still  current  in 
other  provinces — men  have  been  known  to  be  burnt  to 
!  death  for  steahng  maize.  A  case  was  reported 
from  Ch'u-tsing-fu  quite  recently,  but  it  is  a  custom 
which  used  to  be  quite  common.  A  document  is 
signed  by  the  man's  relatives,  a  stick  is  brought  by 
every  villager,  the  man  lashed  to  a  stake,  and  his 
own  people  are  compelled  to  hght  the  fire.  It  seems 
incredible,  but  this  horrible  practice  has  not  been 
entirely  extirpated  by  the  authorities,  although 
since  the  Yiin-nan  RebelUon  it  has  not  been  by  any 
means  so  frequent.  I  have  no  space  nor  incHnation 
to  deal  with  the  ghastly  tortures  inflicted  upon 
prisoners  in  the  name  of  that  great  equivalent  ta 
justice,  but  the  more  one  knows  of  them  the  more 
can  he  appreciate  the  common  adage,  urging 
dead  men  to  keep  out  of  hell  and  the  living  out  of  the 
y aniens  ! 

Hua-chow  is  thirty  li  from  here  at  the  head 
of  an  abominable  hill,  and  here  women,  overlooking 
one  of  the  worst  paved  roads  in  the  Empire,  were 
beating  out  com.  Then  we  climbed  for  another 
twenty-five  U,  rising  from  5,900  feet  to  8,200  feet,, 
till  we  came  to  a  Httle  place  called  Tien-chieng-p'u. 
It  took  us  three  hours.  Looking  backwards  towards 
TaH-fu,  I  saw  my  14,000  feet  friends,  and  as  we  went 
down  the  other  side  over  a  splendid  stone  road  we 
could  see,  far  down  below,  a  valley  which  seemed  a 
veritable  oasis,  smiling  and  sweet.     A  temple  here 

332 


TALI-FU    TO    THE    MEKONG    VALLEY. 

contained  a  battered  khage  of  the  Goddess  of 
Mercy,  who  controls  the  births  of  children.  A  poor 
woman  was  depositing  a  few  cash  in  front  of  the 
besmeared  idol,  imploring  that  she  might  be  delivered 
of  a  son.  How  pitiable  it  is  to  see  these  poor 
creatures  doing  this  sort  of  thing  all  over  the  West 
of  China  ! 

For  two  days  we  had  been  accompanied  by  a  man 
who  was  an  opimn  smoker  and  eater.  Now  I  am 
not  going  to  draw  a  horrible  description  of  a  shrivelled, 
wasted  bogey  in  man's  form,  with  creaking  bones  and 
shivering  limbs  and  all  the  rest  of  it  ;  but  I  must 
say  that  this  man,  towards  the  time  when  his  craving 
came  upon  him,  was  a  wreck  in  every  worst  sense — 
he  crept  away  to  the  wayside  and  smoked,  and 
arrived  always  late  at  night  at  the  end  of  the  stage. 
This  was  the  effect  of  the  drug  which  has  been 
described  "  as  harmless  as  milk."  I  do  not  exag- 
gerate. In  the  course  of  Eastern  journalistic" 
experience  I  have  written  much  in  defence  of  opium, 
have  paralleled  it  to  the  alcohol  of  my  own  country. 
This  was  in  the  Straits  Settlements,  where  the 
deadly  effects  of  opium  are  less  prominent.  But  no 
language  of  mine  now  can  exaggerate  the  evil,  and 
if  I  would  be  honest,  I  cannot  describe  it  as  anything 
but  China's  most  awful  curse.  It  cannot  be  compared 
to  alcohol,  because  its  grip  is  more  speedy  and  more 
deadly.  It  is  more  deadly  than  arsenic,  because  by 
arsenic  the  suicide  dies  at  once,  while  the  opium 
victim  suffers  untold  agonies  and  horrors  and  dies  by 
inches.  It  is  all  very  well  for  the  men  who  know 
nothing  about  the  effect  of  opium  to  do  all  the 
talking  about  the  harmlessness  of  this  pernicious 
drug;  but  they  should  come  through  this  once  fair 
land  of  Yiin-nan  and  see  everywhere — not  in  isolated 

333 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

districts,  but  everywhere — the  ravaging  effects  in 
the  poverty  and  dwarfed  constitutions  of  the  people 
before  they  advocate  the  continuance  of  Britain's 
aid  in  heaping  upon  China  her  greatest  evil,  which 
she  is  endeavouring  so  righteously  to  battle  against. 
I  have  seen  men  transformed  to  beasts  through  its 
use  ;  I  have  seen  more  suicides  from  the  effect  of 
opium  since  I  have  been  in  China  than  from  any 
other  cause  in  the  course  of  my  Hfe.  As  I  write  I 
have  around  me  painfullest  evidence  of  the  cruellest 
ravishings  of  opium  among  a  people  w^ho  have  fallen 
victims  to  the  craving.  There  is  only  one  opinion 
to  be  formed  if  to  himself  one  would  be  true. 

I  give  the  following  quotation  from  a  work  from 
the  pen  of  one  of  the  most  fair-minded  diplomatists 
who  have  ever  held  office  in  China  : — 

"  The  writer  has  seen  an  able-bodied  and  appar- 
ently rugged  labouring  Chinese  tumble  all  in  a  heap 
upon  the  ground,  utterly  nerveless  and  unable  to 
stand,  because  the  time  for  his  dose  of  opium  had 
come,  and  until  the  craving  was  supplied  he  was  no 
longer  a  man,  but  the  merest  heap  of  bones  and  flesh. 
In  the  majority  of  cases  death  is  the  sure  result  of 
any  determined  reform.  The  poison  has  rotted  the 
whole  system,  and  no  power  to  resist  the  simplest 
disease  remains.  In  many  years'  residence  in  China 
the  writer  knew  of  but  four  men  who  finally  aban- 
doned the  habit.  (Where  opium  refuges  have  been 
conducted  by  missionaries,  reports  more  favourable 
have  been  given  concerning  those  who  have  become 
Christians.)  Three  of  them  Uved  but  a  few  months 
thereafter ;  the  fourth  survived  his  reformation, 
but  was  a  Hfe-long  invaUd."* 

♦  China's  Past  and  Future  (p.  165)  by  Chester  Holcombe. 
334 


TALI-FU   TO    THE    MEKONG    VALLEY. 

Much  good  work  is  now  being  done  by  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  the  number  of  those  who  have  given 
up  the  habit  has  probably  increased  since  Mr. 
Holcombe  wrote  the  above.  In  point  of  fact, 
helping  opium  victims  is  one  of  the  most  important 
branches  of  mission  work. 


335 


FOURTH  JOURNEY. 
THE  MEKONG  VALLEY  TO  TENGYUEH 
CHAPTER  XXn. 

The  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death.  Stages  to  Tengyueh. 
The  River  Mekong.  Bridge  described.  An  awful  ascent. 
On-the-spot  conclusions.  Roads  needed  more  than  railways. 
At  Shui-chai.  A  noisy  domestic  scene  at  the  place  where 
I  fed.  Disregard  of  the  value  of  female  life.  Remarkable 
hospitality  of  the  gentry  of  the  city.  Hard  going.  Lodging 
at  a  private  house  on  the  mountains.  Waif  of  the  world 
entertains  the  stranger.  From  Ban-chiao  to  Yiing-ch'ang. 
Buffaloes  and  journalistic  ignorance.  Excited  scene  at 
Pu-piao.  Chinese  barbers.  A  refractory  coolie.  Military 
interest. 

The  journey  which  I  was  about  to  undertake  was 
the  most  memorable  of  my  travels  in  China,  with 
the  exception  of  those  in  the  unexplored  Miao  Lands  ; 
for  I  was  to  pass  through  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow 
of  Death,  the  dreaded  Salwen  Valley.  I  had  made 
up  my  mind  that  I  would  stay  here  for  a  night  to  see 
the  effects  of  the  climate,  but  postponed  my  sojourn 
instead  to  a  later  period,  when  I  stayed  two  days, 
and  went  up  the  low-lying  country  towards  the 
source  of  the  river  ;  I  am,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  only 
European  who  has  ever  travelled  here.  Not  that  my 
j  oumeyings  will  convey  any  great  benefit  upon  any- 
one but  myself,  as  I  had  no  instruments  for  surv^eying 
or    taking    accurate    levels,    and    might    not    have 

336 


A    trio  of  Tibetans  snapped  in   Yiln-nan. 


Ytino-cliang-fn,  the  wesUrnwost  pvefectiiYe  of  the  Chinese  Empire. 


^1 

35 


^. 


MEKONG    VALLEY    TO    TENGYUEH. 

been  able  to  use  them  had  I  had  them  with  me. 
However,  I  came  in  contact  with  Lisu,  and  saw  in 
my  two  marches  a  good  deal  of  new  life,  which  only 
acts  as  an  incentive  to  see  more.  My  plan  on  the 
present  occasion  was  to  travel  onwards  by  the 
following  stages  : — 


Length  of 
Stage. 

Height 
above  sea. 

1st  day — Tali-shao 

.       65  li. 

7,200  ft 

2nd    ,,       Yung-ch'ang-fu  . 

•     75  li- 

5,500  ft, 

5th     ,,       Fang-ma-ch'ang  , 

.     90  h. 

7,300  ft, 

6th     ,,       Ta-hao-ti 

.   120  h. 

8,200  ft, 

7th     ,,       Tengyueh  (Momicn)    85  H.       5,370  ft. 

On  Friday,  February  26th,  1909,  I  steamed  up 
the  muddy  mouth  of  the  Mekong  to  Saigon  in  Indo- 
China  in  a  French  mail  steamer.  To-day,  February 
3rd,  1910,  I  cross  the  same  river  many  hundreds  of 
miles  from  where  it  empties  into  the  China  Sea.  I 
cross  by  a  magnificent  suspension  bridge. 

A  cruel  road,  almost  vertical  and  negotiated  by  a 
twining  zigzag  path,  has  brought  me  down,  after 
infinite  labour,  from  the  mountains  over  4,000  feet 
below  my  highest  point  reached  yesterday,  and  I 
now  stand  in  the  middle  of  the  bridge  gazmg  at  the 
silent  green  stream  flowing  between  cliffs  of  wall-like 
steepness.  I  am  resting,  for  1  have  to  climb  again 
immediately  to  over  8,000  feet.  This  bridge  has  a 
wooden  base  swinging  on  iron  chains,  and  is  con- 
nected with  the  cliffs  by  bulwarks  of  solid  masonry. 
It  is  hard  to  believe  that  I  am  4,000  feet  above  the 
mouth  of  the  river.  To  my  left,  as  I  look  down  the 
torrent,  there  are  tea-shops  and  a  temple  alongside 
a  most  decorative  buttress  on  which  the  carving  is 
elaborate.     At  the  far  end,  just  before  entering  the 

337 
23 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

miniature  tunnel  branching  out  to  a  paved  roadway 
leading  upwards,  my  coolies  are  sitting  in  truly 
Asiatic  style  admiring  huge  Chinese  characters  hacked 
into  the  side  of  the  natural  rock,  descriptive  of 
the  whole  business,  and  under  a  sheltering  roof  are 
also  two  age- worn  memorial  tablets  in  gilt.  My 
men's  patriotic  thermometer  has  risen  almost  to 
bursting-point,  and  in  admiring  the  work  of  the 
ancients  they  feel  that  they  have  a  legitimate  excuse 
for  a  long  delay. 

At  a  temple  called  P'ing-p'o-t'ang  we  drank  tea, 
and  prepared  ourselves  for  the  worst  climb  experi- 
enced in  our  long  overland  tramp. 

The  Mekong  is  at  this  point  just  4,000  feet  above 
sea  level,  as  has  been  said  ;  the  point  in  front  of  us, 
running  up  perpendicularly  to  a  narrow  pass  in  the 
mountains,  leads  on  to  Shui-chai  (6,700  feet),  and  on 
again  to  Tali-shao,  itself  7,800  feet  high,  the 
mountains  on  which  it  occupies  a  ledge  being  much 
higher.  For  slipperiness  and  general  hazards  this 
road  baffles  description.  It  leads  up  step  by  step, 
but  not  regular  steps,  not  even  as  regularity  goes  in 
China. 

"  There  are  two  small  oval  bridges  in  the  journey. 
On  the  first  I  sit  down  and  gaze  far  away  dovvTi  to  the 
shining  river  below,  and  must  ascend  again  in  the 
wake  of  my  panting  men.  .  .  .  Where  the  road  is 
not  natural  rock,  it  is  composed  of  huge  fragments  of 
stone  in  the  rough  state,  smooth  as  the  face  of  a 
mirror,  haphazardly  placed  at  such  dangerous  spots 
as  to  show  that  no  idea  of  building  was  employed 
when  the  road  was  made.  Sometimes  one  steps 
twenty  inches  from  one  stone  to  another,  and  were  it 
not    that    the    pathway    is    winding,    although    the 

338 


MEKONG   VALLEY    TO    TENGYUEH. 

turning  and  twisting  makes  unending  toil,  progress 
in  the  ascent  would  be  impossible.  .  .  .  Mules 
are  passing  me — puffing,  panting,  perspiring.  Poor 
brutes  !  One  has  fallen,  and  in  rolling  has  dragged 
another  with  him,  and  there  the  twain  lie  motionless 
on  those  horrid  stones  while  the  exhausted  muleteers 
raise  their  loads  to  allow  them  slowly  to  regain  their 
feet.  There  are  some  hundreds  of  them  now  in  the 
hiU." 

This  description  was  made  in  shorthand  notes  in 
my  notebook  as  I  ascended.     And  I  find  again : — 

"  I  have  seen  one  or  two  places  in  Szech'wan  like 
this,  but  the  danger  is  incomparably  less  and  the  road 
infinitely  superior.  We  pull  and  pant  and  puff  up, 
up,  up,  around  each  bend,  and  my  men  can  scarce 
go  forward.  Huge  pieces  of  rock  have  fallen  from 
the  cliff,  and  wellnigh  block  the  way,  and  just  ahead 
a  landslip  has  carried  off  part  of  our  course.  The 
road  is  indescribably  difficult  because  it  is  so  slippery 
and  one  can  get  no  foothold.  My  pony,  carrying 
nothing  but  the  little  flesh  which  bad  food  has  enabled 
him  to  keep,  has  been  down  on  his  knees  four  times, 
and  once  he  rolled  so  much  that  I  thought  that  he 
must  surely  go  over  the  ravine.  .  .  .  Rocks 
overhang  me  as  I  pass.  If  one  should  drop  !  .  .  . 
But  one  does  not  mind  the  toil  when  he  looks  upon 
his  men.  In  the  midst  of  their  intense  labour  my 
men's  squeals  of  songs  echo  through  the  mountains  as 
the  perspiration  runs  down  their  uncovered  backs  ; 
they  chaff  each  other,  and  utmost  good  feeling 
prevails.  Poor  Shanks  is  nearly  done,  but  still 
laughs  loudly.  ...  A  natural  pathway  more 
difficult  of  progress  I  cannot  conceive  anywhere  in 

339 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the  world  ;  and  yet  this  is  a  so-called  paved  road, 
the  road  over  which  all  the  trade  of  the  western  part 
of  this  great  province,  all  the  imports  from  Burma, 
are  regularly  carried.  Should  the  road  ever  be 
discarded,  that  is  if  the  railway  ever  comes  over 
this  route,  only  a  long  tunnel  through  the  mountain 
would  serve  its  purpose.  .  .  .  We  have  just  sat 
down  and  fraternised  with  the  man  carrying  the 
mails  to  Tali-fu,  and  now  we  are  working  steadily 
for  the  top,  around  comers  where  the  breeze  comes 
with  delicious  freshness.  Here  we  are  on  a  road 
now  leading  through  a  widening  gorge  to  Shui-chai, 
and  as  I  cross  the  narrow  pass  I  see  the  river  down 
below  looking  like  a  snake  waiting  for  its  prey." 

Roads  are  needed  far  more  than  railways. 

Being  hungry,  we  sat  down  at  Shui-chai  to  feed 
on  rice  at  a  place  where  a  man  minded  the  baby 
while  the  woman  attended  to  the  food.  Over  my 
head  hung  sausages — my  men  swore  that  they  were 
sausages,  although  for  my  life  I  could  see  no  resem- 
blance? to  that  article  of  food — things  of  i|  inches 
in  circumference  and  from  12  to  60  inches  long, 
doubled  up  and  hung  up  for  sale  over  a  bamboo  to 
dry  and  harden  in  the  sun.  Hams  there  were,  and 
dried  bacon,  and  dirty  brown  biscuits,  and  unin- 
viting pickled  cabbage.  By  the  side  of  the  table 
where  I  sat  was  a  wooden  pun  of  unwashed  rice 
bowls,  against  which  lay  the  filthy  domestic    dog. 

Outside,  the  narrow  street  was  hned  to  the  farthest 
point  of  vantage  by  kindly  people,  curious  to  see 
their  o'\\ti  feeding  implements  in  the  incapable  hands 
of  the  barbarian  from  the  Western  lands,  and  the 
conversation  waxed  loud  and  excited  in  general 
hazards  regarding  my  presence  in  their  city. 

340 


MEKONG    VALLEY    TO    TENGYUEH. 

Stenches  were  rife  ;    they  nearly  choked  one. 

A  little  boy  yelled  out  to  his  mother  in  complaint 
of  the  food  he  had  been  given  by  a  feminine  twelve- 
year-old,  his  sister.  The  mother  immediately 
became  furious  beyond  all  control.  She  snatched 
a  bamboo  to  belabour  the  girl,  and  in  chasing  her 
knocked  over  the  pun  of  pots  aforesaid.  The  place 
became  a  Bedlam.  Men  rose  from  their  seats,  and 
with  their  mouths  full  of  rice  expostulated  in  vainest 
mediation,  waving  their  chopsticks  in  the  air,  and 
whilst  the  mother  turned  upon  them  in  grossest 
abuse  the  daughter  cleared  out  at  the  back  of 
the  premises.  I  left  the  irate  parent  brandishing 
the  bamboo ;  her  voice  was  heard  beyond  the 
town. 

But  I  was  not  allowed  to  leave  the  town.  All  the 
intellect  of  the  place  had  assembled  in  one  of  the 
shops,  into  which  I  was  gently  drawn  by  the  coat 
sleeve  by  a  good-natured,  well-dressed  humpback, 
and  all  of  the  men  assembled  began  an  examination 
as  to  who  the  dignitary  was,  his  honourable  age,  the 
number  of  the  wives,  sons  and  daughters  he  pos- 
sessed, with  inevitable  questioning  into  the  concerns 
of  his  patriarchal  forbears.  Accordingly  I  once 
again  searched  the  archives  of  my  elastic  memory, 
and  there  found  all  information  readily  accessible, 
so  that  in  a  few  moments,  by  the  aid  of  Bailer's 
Primer,  I  had  explained  that  I  was  a  stranger  within 
their  gates,  wafted  thither  by  circumstances  extra- 
ordinarily auspicious,  and  had  satisfied  them  con- 
cerning my  parentage,  birthplace,  prospects  and 
pursuits,  with  introspective  anecdotal  references  to 
various  deceased  members  of  my  family  tree.  I  did 
not  tell  them  the  truth — that  I  was  a  pilgrim  from  a 
far  country,  footsore  and  travel-soiled,  that  I  had 

341 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

been  well-nigh  poisoned  by  their  bad  cooking  and 
blistered  with  their  bug-bites  ! 

I  rose  to  go.  Everyone  in  the  company  rose  like 
automatons  with  me.  The  humpback  again  caught 
me,  this  time  by  both  hands,  and  warmly  pressed  me 
to  stay  and  "  uan  "  ("  play  ")  a  httle.  "  Great 
Brother,"  he  ejaculated,  "  why  joumeyest  thou 
wearisomely  towards  Yung-ch'ang  ?  Tarry  here." 
And  he  had  pushed  me  back  again  into  my  chair,  he 
had  refilled  my  teacup,  and  invited  me  to  tell  more 
tales  of  antiquarian  relationship.  And  finally  I  was 
allowed  to  go.  Greater  hospitality  could  not  have 
been  shown  me  anywhere  in  the  world. 

The  day  had  been  hard  going.  We  pursued  our 
way  unheedingly,  as  men  knowing  not  whither  we 
went ;  and  at  4.0  p.m.,  fearing  that  we  should  not 
be  able  to  make  Ban-chiao,  where  we  intended 
stopping,  I  decided  to  go  no  farther  than  Tali-shao. 
The  evening  was  one  of  the  happiest  I  spent  in  my 
journeys,  although  personal  comfort  was  entirely 
lacking.  The  place  is  made  up  of  just  a  few  hovels  ; 
people  were  hostile,  and  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  my 
men's  entreaties  for  shelter.  For  very  helplessness 
I  laughed  aloud,  I  screamei  with  laughter,  and 
the  folk  gathered  to  see  me  almost  in  hysterics. 
They  soon  began  to  smile,  then  to  laugh,  and  seeing 
the  effect,  I  laughed  still  louder,  and  soon  had 
the  whole  village  with  tears  of  laughter  making 
furrows  down  their  unwashed  faces,  laughing 
like  a  pack  of  hyenas.  At  last  a  kind  old  woman 
gave  way  to  my  boy's  persuasions,  beckoning  us  to 
follow  her  into  a  house.  Here  we  found  a  young 
girl  of  about  nine  summers  in  charge.  It  was  all 
rare  fun.  There  was  nothing  to  eat,  and  so  the  men 
went  one  here  and  another  there    buying   supplies 

342 


MEKONG   VALLEY    TO    TENGYUEH. 

for  the  night.  Another  cleared  out  the  room,  and 
made  it  a  little  habitable.  The  bull-dog  coolie 
cooked  the  rice,  Shanks  boiled  eggs  and  cut  up  the 
pork  into  small  slices,  another  fed  the  pony,  and 
then  we  fed  ourselves. 

In  the  evening  a  wood  fire  was  kindled  in  the 
comer  near  my  bed,  and  we  all  sat  round  on  the  mud 
floor — stools  there  were  none — to  tell  yams.  My 
confederates  were  out  for  a  spree.  We  smoked  and 
drank  tea  and  yarned.  Suddenly  a  stick  would  be 
thrust  over  my  shoulder  to  the  fire  :  it  was  merely 
a  man's  pipe  going  to  the  fire  for  a  fight,  Chinese 
never  use  matches  ;  it  is  a  waste  when  there  are  so 
many  fires  about.  If  on  the  road  a  man  wants  to 
light  his  pipe,  he  walks  into  a  home  and  gets  it  from 
the  fire.  No  one  minds.  No  notice  is  taken  of  the 
intrusion.  Everybody  is  polite,  and  the  man  may  not 
utter  a  word.  At  a  wayside  food-shop  a  man  may 
go  behind  to  where  the  cooking  is  being  conducted, 
poke  his  pipe  into  the  embers,  and  walk  out  pulfing 
at  it,  all  as  naturally  as  if  that  man  were  in  his  own 
house.  An  Enghshman  would  have  a  rough  time  of 
it  if  he  had  to  go  down  on  his  hands  and  knees  and 
pull  away  at  a  pipe  from  a  fire  on  the  floor. 

No  father,  no  mother,  no  elder  brother  had  the 
little  girl  in  charge.  She  was  left  without  friends 
entirely,  and  a  man  must  have  been  a  hard  man 
indeed  were  he  to  steel  his  heart  against  such  a 
helpless  little  one.  I  called  her  to  me,  gave  her  a 
little  present,  and  comforted  her  as  she  cried  for  the 
very  knowledge  that  an  Englishman  would  do  a  kind 
act  to  a  little  waif  such  as  herself.  She  was  in  the  act 
of  giving  back  the  money  to  me,  when  Lao  Chang, 
with  pleasant  aptitude,  interposed,  explained  that 
foreigners    occasionally    develop    generous    moods, 

343 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

and  that  she  had  better  stop  ctying  and  lock  the 
money  away.  She  did  this,  but  the  poor  Httle  mite 
nearly  broke  her  heart. 

Ban-chiao,  which  we  reached  early  the  next  morn- 
ing, is  a  considerable  town,  where  most  of  the  people 
earn  their  livelihood  at  dyeing.  Those  who  do  not 
dye  drink  tea  and  pass  rude  remarks  about  itinerant 
magnates,  such  as  the  author.  I  passed  over  the 
once  fine,  rough-planked  bridge  at  the  end  of  the 
town. 

In  the  evening  we  are  at  Yung-ch'ang.  Here 
I  saw  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  a  man  carry- 
ing a  cangue,  and  a  horrible,  sickening  feehng 
seized  me  as  I  tramped  through  the  densely-packed 
street  and  watched  the  poor  fellow.  The  mob  were 
evidently  clamouring  for  his  death,  and  were  pre- 
pared to  make  sport  of  his  torments.  There  is 
nothing  more  glorious  to  a  brutal  populace  than  the 
physical  agony  of  a  helpless  fellow-creature,  nothing 
which  produces  more  mirth  than  the  despair,  the 
pain,  the  writhing  of  a  miserable,  condemned 
wretch. 

Great  drops  of  sweat  bathed  his  brow,  and  as  one 
looked  on  one  felt  that  he  might  pray  that  his  hot 
and  throbbing  blood  might  rush  in  merciful  full 
force  to  a  vital  centre  of  his  brain,  so  that  he  might 
fall  into  oblivion.  The  jeers  and  the  mockery  of  a 
pitiless  multitude  seemed  too  awful,  no  matter  what 
the  man's  crime  had  been. 

Yung-ch'ang  (5,500  feet)  is  as  well  known  as  any 
city  in  Far  Western  China.  I  stayed  here  for  two 
days'  rest,  the  only  disturbing  element  being  a  wretch 
of  a  mother-in-law  who  made  unbearable  the  life  of 
her  son's  wife,  a  girl  of  about  eighteen,  who  has 
probably  by  this  time  taken  opium,  if  she  has  been 

344 


MEKONG    VALLEY    TO    TENGYUEH. 

able  to  get  hold  of  it,  and  so  ended  a  miserable 
existence. 

On  a  return  visit  this  mother-in-law,  as  soon  as 
she  caught  sight  of  me,  ran  to  fetch  an  empty  tooth- 
powder  tin,  a  small  black  safety  pin,  and  two  inches 
of  lead  pencil  I  had  left  behind  me  on  the  previous 
visit.  I  have  made  more  than  one  visit  to  Yung- 
ch'ang,  and  the  people  have  always  treated  me  well. 

Along  the  ten  li  of  level  plain  from  the  city,  on  the 
road  which  led  up  again  to  the  mountains,  I  counted 
no  less  than  409  bullocks  laden  with  nothing  but 
firewood,  and  744  mules  and  ponies  carrying  cotton 
yarn  and  other  general  imports  coming  from  Burma. 
There  was  a  stampede  at  the  foot  of  the  town,  and 
quite  against  my  own  will,  I  assure  the  reader,  I  got 
mixed  up  in  the  affair  as  I  stood  watching  the  light 
and  shade  effects  of  the  morning  sun  on  the  hillsides. 
Buffaloes,  with  a  crude  hoop  collar  of  wood  around 
their  coarse  necks,  dragged  rough-hewn  planks 
along  the  stone-paved  roadway,  the  timber  swerving 
dangerously  from  side  to  side  as  the  heavy  animals 
pursued  their  painful  plodding.  To  the  Chinaman 
the  buffalo  is  the  safest  of  all  quadrupeds,  if  we 
perhaps  except  the  mule,  which,  if  three  legs  give  way, 
will  save  itself  on  the  remaining  one.  But  it  is 
certainly  the 'slowest.  I  am  here  reminded  that  when 
I  was  starting  on  this  trip  a  journalistic  friend  of 
mine,  who  had  spent  some  years  in  one  of  the  coast 
ports,  tried  to  dissuade  me  from  coming,  and  cited 
the  buffalo  as  the  most  treacherous  animal  to  be  met 
on  the  main  road  in  China.     He  put  it  in  this  way  : 

"  Well,  old  man,  you  have  evidently  made  up 
your  mind,  but  I  would  not  take  it  on  at  any  price. 
The  buffaloes  are  terrors.  They  smell  you  even  if 
they  do  not  see  you  ;    they  smell  you  miljs  off.     It 

345 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

nay  end  up  by  your  being  chased,  and  you  will 
probably  be  gored  to  death." 

The  buffalo  is  the  most  peaceful  animal  I  know 
in  China.  Miniature  belfries  were  attached  to  the 
wooden  frames  on  the  backs  of  carrying  oxen,  and 
were  it  not  for  the  huge  tenor  bell  and  its  gong-like 
sound  keeping  the  animal  in  motion,  the  slow  pace 
would  be  slower  still. 

Turning  suddenly  and  abruptly  to  the  left,  we 
commenced  a  cold  journey  over  the  mountains, 
although  the  sun  was  shining  brightly.  A  goitrous 
man  came  to  me  and  waxed  eloquent  about  some 
uncontrollable  pig  which  was  dragging  him  all  over 
the  roadway  as  he  vainly  tried  to  get  it  to  market. 
Some  dozen  small  boys,  with  hatchets  and  scythes 
over  their  shoulders  for  the  cutting  of  the  firewood 
they  were  looking  for,  laughed  at  me  as  I  ploughed 
through  the  mud  in  my  sandals.  We  had  been  going 
for  three  hours,  and  when,  cold  and  damp,  we  got 
inside  a  cottage  for  tea,  I  found  that  we  had  covered 
only  twenty  li — so  we  were  told  by  an  old  fogy  who 
brushed  up  the  floor  with  a  piece  of  bamboo.  He 
was  dressed  in  what  might  have  been  termed  undress, 
and  was  most  vigorous  in  his  condemnation  of 
foreigners. 

Leng-shui-ch'ang  we  passed  at  thirty-five  li  out, 
and  just  beyond  the  aneroid  registered  7,000  feet ; 
Yung-ch'ang  Plain  is  5,500  feet ;  Pu-piao  Plain  is 
4,500  feet.  The  range  of  hills  dividing  the  two 
plains  was  bare,  the  clouds  hung  low,  and  the  keen 
wind  whistled  in  our  faces  and  nipped  our  ears. 
Ten  li  from  Pu-piao,  on  a  barren  upland  overlooking 
the  valley,  a  mere  boy  had  established  himself  as 
tea  provider  for  the  traveller.  A  foreign  kerosene 
tin  placed  on  three  stones  was  the  general  cistern 

346 


MEKONG   VALLEY    TO    TENGYUEH. 

for  boiling  water,  which  was  dipped  out  and  handed 
round  in  a  sHp  of  bamboo  shaped  Hke  a  mug  with  a 
stick  to  hold  it  by.  Farther  on,  sugar-cane  grew  in 
a  field  to  the  left,  and  near  by  a  man  sat  on  his 
haunches  on  the  ground  feeding  a  sugar-grinding 
machine  propelled  by  a  buffalo,  who  patiently 
tramped  round  that  small  circle  all  day  and  every 
day. 

Turning  from  this,  I  beheld  one  of  the  worst  sights 
I  have  ever  seen  in  China.  Seven  dogs  were  dragging 
a  corpse  from  a  coffin,  barely  covered  with  earth, 
which  formed  one  of  the  grave  mounds  which  skirt 
the  road.  No  one  was  disturbed  by  the  scene  ;  it 
was  not  uncommon.  But  the  foreigner  suffered  an 
agonising  sickness,  for  which  his  companions  would 
have  been  at  a  loss  to  find  any  possible  reason,  and 
was  reheved  to  reach  Pu-piao. 

Market  was  at  its  height.  It  was  warm  down 
here  in  the  valley.  The  streets  were  packed  with 
people,  many  of  whom  were  pushed  bodily  into  the 
piles  of  common  foreign  and  native  merchandise  on 
sale  on  either  side  of  the  road.  A  clodhopper  of  a 
fellow,  jostled  by  my  escort,  fell  into  a  stall  and 
broke  the  huge  umbrella  which  formed  a  shelter  for 
the  vendor  and  his  goods,  and  my  boy  was  called 
upon  to  pay.  Fifty  cash  fixed  the  matter.  I  walked 
into  a  crowded  inn  and  made  majestically  for  the 
extreme  left-hand  corner.  Everybody  wondered, 
and  softly  asked  his  neighbour  what  in  the  sacred 
name  of  Confucius  had  come  upon  them. 

"  See  his  boots  !  Look  at  his  old  hat !  What  a  face  ! 
It  is  a  monstrosity,  and " 

But  as  I  sat  down  the  general  of  the  establishment 
cruelly  forced  back  the  people,  and  screamingly 
yelled  at  the  top  of  his  voice  that  those  who  wanted 

347 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

to  drink  tea  in  the  room  must  pay  double  rates. 
His  unusual  announcement  was  received  with  a 
low  grunt  of  dissatisfaction,  but  no  one  left.  Every 
table  in  the  square  apartment  was  soon  filled  with 
six  or  eight  men,  and  the  noise  was  terrific.  Curiosity 
increased.  The  fun  was,  as  the  comic  papers  say,  fast 
and  furious  ;  and  despite  the  ill-favoured  pleasantries 
passed  by  my  own  men  and  the  inquisitive  tea-shop 
keeper  as  to  peculiarities  of  heredity  in  certain  noisy 
members  of  the  crowd,  a  riot  seemed  inevitable.  I 
stationed  my  two  soldiers  in  the  narrow  doorway  to 
defend  the  only  entrance  and  entertain  the  uniniti- 
ated with  stories  of  their  prowess  with  the  rifle  and 
of  the  weapon's  deadliness.  Boys  climbed  like 
monkeys  to  the  overhead  beams  to  get  a  ghmpse  of 
me  as  I  fed,  and  incidentally  shook  dust  into  my 
food. 

Everyone  pushed  to  where  there  was  standing 
room.  Outside  a  rolUng  sea  of  yellow  faces  sur- 
mounted a  mass  of  lively  blue  cotton,  all  eager  for  a 
look.  The  din  was  terrible.  All  very  visibly 
annoyed  were  my  men  at  the  rudeness  of  their  low- 
bred fellow-countrymen,  and  especially  surprised  at 
the  equanimity  of  Ding  Daren  in  tolerating  quietly 
their  pointed  and  personal  remarks.  I  became 
more  and  more  the  hero  of  the  hour. 

Turning  to  the  crowd  as  I  came  out,  I  smiled 
serenely,  and  with  a  quiet  wave  of  the  hand  pointed 
out  in  faultless  Enghsh  that  the  gulf  between  my 
own  country  and  theirs  was  aheady  wide  enough, 
and  that  Great  Britain  might — I  did  not  say 
that  she  would,  but  might — widen  it  still  more  if 
they  persisted  in  treating  her  subjects  in  China  as 
monstrous  specimens  of  the  human  race.  This  was 
rigorously  corroborated  by  my  two  soldier-men,  to 

348 


MEKONG    VALLEY    TO    TENGYUEH. 

whom  I  appealed,  and  a  parting  word  on  the  ordinary 
poHteness  of  Western  nations  to  a  greasy  fellow  (he 
was  a  worker  in  brass),  who  felt  my  clothes  with  his 
dirty  fingers,  ended  an  interesting  break  in  the  day's 
monotony.  In  the  street  the  crowd  again  was  at 
my  heels,  and  evinced  more  than  comfortable 
curiosity  in  my  straw  sandals.  They  cost  me  thirty 
cash,  equal  to  about  a  halfpenny  in  our  coinage. 

Since  then  I  have  paid  other  visits  to  Pu-piao. 
On  one  occasion  in  subsequent  travel  I  had  a 
pubhc  shave  there.  My  arrival  at  the  inn  in  the 
nick  of  time  enabled  me  to  buttonhole  the  barber, 
who  was  picking  up  his  traps  to  clear,  and  I  had 
one  of  the  best  shaves  I  have  ever  had  in  my  life, 
in  one  of  the  most  uncomfortable  positions  I  ever 
remember.  My  seat  was  a  low,  narrow  form  with 
no  back  or  anything  for  my  neck  to  rest  upon, 
and  afterwards  I  went  through  the  primitive  and 
painful  massage  process  of  being  bumped  all  over 
the  back.  Between  every  four  or  five  whacks  the 
barber  snapped  his  fingers  and  clapped  his  hands, 
and  right  glad  was  I  when  he  had  finished.  The 
yard  was  full,  even  to  the  stable  and  cook-house 
alongside  each  other,  the  anger  of  a  grizzly  old 
dame,  who  smoked  a  reeking  pipe  and  who  had 
charge  of  the  rice-and-cabbage  depot,  being  eclipsed 
only  by  my  infuriated  barber  as  he  gave  cruel  vent 
to  his  anger  upon  my  aching  back. 

This  reminds  me  of  an  uncomfortable  shave  I  had 
some  ten  years  ago  in  Trinidad,  where  a  black  man 
sat  me  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree  whilst  he  got  behind 
and  rested  my  head  on  one  knee  and  got  to  work 
with  an  implement  which  might  have  made  a  decent 
putty  knife,  but  was  never  meant  to  cut  whiskers. 
However,  in  the  case  of  the  Chinaman  his  knife  was 

349 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

in  fair  condition,  but  he  grunted  a  good  deal  over 
my  four-days'  growth. 

This  httle  story  should  not  convey  the  impression 
that  I  am  an  advocate  of  the  public  shave  in  China, 
or  anywhere  else  ;  but  there  are  times  when  one  is 
glad  of  it.  I  have  been  shaved  by  Chinamen  in 
many  places  ;  and  whilst  resident  at  Yiin-nan-fu 
with  a  broken  arm  a  man  came  regularly  to  me, 
his  shave  sometimes  being  delightful,  and — some- 
times not. 

I  had  another  rather  amusing  experience  at  Pu-piao 
about  a  month  after  this.  A  supplementary  coolie 
had  been  engaged  for  me  at  Tengyueh  at  a  somewhat 
bigger  wage  than  my  other  men  were  getting,  and 
this,  known  of  course  to  them,  added  to  the  fact 
that  he  was  not  carrying  the  heaviest  load,  did  not 
tend  to  produce  unmarred  brotherhood  among 
them.  The  man  had  been  told  that  he  would  go 
on  to  Tali-fu  with  me  on  my  return  trip,  so  that 
when  I  took  the  part  of  my  men  (who  had  come 
many  hundreds  of  miles  with  me,  and  who  had 
engaged  another  man  on  the  route  to  fill  the  gap), 
in  desiring  to  get  rid  of  him,  he  certainly  had  some 
right  on  his  side.  The  day  before  we  reached 
Yung-ch'ang  he  was  told  that  at  that  place  he  would 
not  be  required  any  longer  ;  but  he  decided  then  and 
there  to  go  no  farther,  and  refused  point-blank  to 
carry  when  we  were  ready  to  start.  I  should  have 
recompensed  him  fully,  however,  for  his  disappoint- 
ment had  he  not  made  some  detestable  reference  to 
my  mother,  in  what  Lao  Chang  assured  me  was  not 
strictly  parliamentary  language.  As  soon  as  I  learnt 
this — I  was  standing  near  the  fellow — he  somehow 
fell  over,  sprawling  to  the  floor  over  my  walnut 
folding  chair,  which  snapped  at  the  arm.     It  was  my 

350 


MEKONG   VALLEY    TO   TENGYUEH. 

doing.  The  man  said  no  more,  picked  up  his  loads, 
and  was  the  first  to  arrive  at  Yung-ch'ang,  so  that 
a  httle  force  was  not  ineffective. 

Indiscriminate  use  of  force  I  do  not  advocate, 
however ;  I  beUeve  in  the  reverse,  as  a  matter  of 
fact.  I  rarely  hit  a  man  ;  but  there  have  been 
occasions  when,  a  man  having  refused  to  do  what 
he  has  engaged  to  do,  or  in  cases  of  downright 
insolence,  a  little  push  or  a  slight  cut  with  my  stick 
has  brought  about  a  capital  feeling  and  gained  for 
me  immediate  respect. 

Fang-ma-ch'ang,  off  the  main  road,  was  our 
sleeping  -  place.  Travellers  rarely  take  this  road. 
Gill  took  it,  I  believe,  but  Baber,  Davies  and  others 
took  the  main  road.  This  short  road  was  more 
fatiguing  than  the  main  road  would  have  been. 

We  again  turned  a  dwelling-house  upside  down. 
People  did  not  at  first  wish  to  take  me  in,  so  I  pushed 
past  the  quarrelsome  man  in  the  doorway,  took 
possession,  and  set  to  work  to  get  what  I  wanted. 
Soon  the  people  calmed  down  and  gave  all  they 
could.  My  bed  I  spread  near  the  door,  and  to  catch 
a  glimpse  of  me  as  I  lay  resting,  the  inhabitants, 
in  much  the  same  manner  as  people  at  home  visit 
and  revisit  the  cage  of  jungle-bred  tigers  at  a  men- 
agerie, assembled  and  reassembled  with  considerable 
confusion.  But  I  was  beneath  my  curtains.  So 
they  came  again,  and  when  I  ate  my  food  by  candle- 
light many  human  and  tangible  products  of  the  past 
glared  in  at  the  doorway.  After  dark  we  all  fore- 
gathered in  the  middle  of  the  room  round  the  camp 
fire,  the  conversation  taking  a  pleasant  turn  from 
ordinary  things,  such  as  the  varying  distances  from 
place  to  place,  how  many  basins  of  rice  each  man 
could  eat,  and  other  Chinese  commonplaces,  to  things 

351 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

military.  Everybody  warmed  to  the  subject.  My 
military  bod3'guard  were  the  chief  speakers,  and 
cleverly  brought  round  the  smoky  fire,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  thick-headed  rustics  who  made  up  the 
fascinated  audience,  a  modern  battlefield,  and  made 
their  description  horrible  enough. 

One  carefully  brought  out  his  gun,  waving  it 
overhead  to  add  to  the  tragedy,  as  he  weaved  a 
powerful  story  of  shell  splinters,  blood-filled 
trenches,  common  shot,  men  and  horses  out  of  which 
all  life  and  virtue  had  been  blown  by  gunpowder. 
The  picture  was  drawn  around  the  Chinese  village, 
and  in  the  dim  glimmer  each  man's  thought  ran 
swiftly  to  his  own  homestead  and  the  green  fields 
and  the  hedgerows  and  dwellings  all  blown  to  atoms — 
left  merely  as  a  place  of  skulls.  They  spoke  of  great 
and  horrible  implements  of  modern  warfare,  invented, 
to  their  minds,  by  the  devilry  of  the  West.  Each 
man  chipped  in  with  a  little  colour,  and  the  company 
broke  up  in  fear  of  dreaming  of  the  things  of  which 
they  had  heard,  afraid  to  go  to  their  straw  to  sleep. 

As  I  lay  in  my  draughty  corner,  my  own  mind 
turned  to  what  the  next  day  would  bring,  for  I  was 
to  go  down  to  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death — 
the  dreaded  Salwen.  I  had  read  of  it  as  a  veritable 
death-trap. 


352 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

To  Lu-chtang-pa.  Drop  from  8,000  feet  to  2,000  feet.  Shans 
met  for  the  first  time.  Dangers  of  the  Salwen  Valley 
exaggerated.  How  reports  get  into  print.  Start  of  the  climb 
from  2,000  feet  to  over  S,ooo  feet.  Scenery  in  the  valley. 
Queer  quintet  of  soldiers.  Semi-tropical  temperature.  My 
men  fall  to  the  ground  exhausted.  A  fatiguing  day.  Be- 
nighted in  the  forest.  Spend  the  night  in  a  hut.  Strong 
drink  as  it  affects  the  Chinese.  Embarrassing  attentions 
of  a  kindly  couple.  New  Year  festivities  at  Kan-lan-chai. 
The  Shweli  River  and  watershed.  Magnificent  range  of 
mountains.     Arrival  at  Tengyueh. 

No  Chinese,  I  knew,  lived  in  the  Valley;  but  I  had 
yet  to  learn  that  so  soon  as  the  country  drops  to  say 
less  than  4,000  feet  the  Chinaman  considers  it  too 
unhealthy  a  spot  for  him  to  pass  his  days  in.  The 
reason  why  Shans  control  the  Valley  is,  therefore, 
not  hard  to  find. 

And  owing  to  the  probability  that  what  European 
travellers  have  written  about  the  unhealthiness  of 
this  Salwen  Valley  has  been  based  on  information 
obtained  from  Chinese,  its  bad  name  may  be  easily 
accounted  for.  The  next  morning,  as  I  descended, 
I  saw  much  malarial  mist  rising ;  but,  after  having  on 
a  subsequent  visit  spent  two  days  and  two  nights 
at  the  lowest  point,  I  am  in  a  position  to  say  that 
conditions  have  been  very  much  exaggerated,  and 
that  places  quite  as  unhealthy  are  to  be  found 
between  Lu-chiang-pa  (the  town  at  the  foot,  by  the 
bridge)  and  the  low-lying  Shan  States  leading  on  to 
Burma. 

A  good  deal  of  the  country  to  the  north  of  the 
Yiin-nan  province,  towards  the  Tibetan  border,  is  so 

353 
24 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

high-lying  and  so  cold  that  the  Yiin-nanese  Chinaman 
is  afraid  to  live  there  ;  and  the  fact  that  in  the  Shan 
States,  so  low-lying  and  sultry,  he  is  so  readily  liable 
to  fever,  prevents  him  from  living  there.  These 
places,  through  reports  coming  from  the  Chinese,  are, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  dubbed  as  unhealthy.  The 
average  inhabitant — that  is,  Chinese — strikes  a 
medium  between  4,000  feet  and  10,000  feet  to  live  in, 
and  avoids  going  into  lower  country  between  March 
and  November  if  he  can. 

To  pass  the  valley  and  go  to  Kan-lan-chai  (4,800 
feet),  passing  the  highest  point  at  nearly  9,000  feet — 
140  li  distant  from  Fang-ma-ch'ang — was  our  ambi- 
tion for  the  day. 

Starting  in  the  early  morning,  I  had  a  pleasant 
walk  over  an  even  road  leading  to  a  narrowing  gorge, 
through  which  a  heart-breaking  road  led  to  the  valley 
beyond.  Two  and  a  half  hours  it  took  me,  in  my 
foreign  boots,  to  cover  the  twenty  li.  I  fell  five  times 
over  the  smooth  stones.  The  country  was  bare, 
desolate,  lonely — four  people  only  were  met  over  the 
entire  distance.  But  in  the  dreaded  Valley  several 
trees  were  ablaze  with  blossom,  and  oranges  shone 
like  small  balls  of  gold  in  the  rising  sun.  Children 
playing  in  between  the  trees  ran  away  and  hid  as 
they  saw  me,  although  I  was  fifty  yards  from  them — 
they  did  not  know  what  it  was,  and  they  had  never 
seen  one  ! 

Farther  down  I  caught  up  my  men,  Lao  Chang 
and  Shanks,  and  pleasant  speculations  were  entered 
into  as  to  what  Singai  (Bhamo)  was  like.  They 
were  particularly  interested  in  Singapore  because 
I  had  lived  there,  and  after  I  had  given  them  a 
general  description  of  the  place,  and  explainedjhov/ 
the  Chinese  had  gone  ahead  there,  I  pointed  out  as 

354 


MEKONG   VALLEY   TO    TENGYUEH. 

well  as  I  could  with  my  limited  vocabulary  that  if 
the  people  of  Yiin-nan  only  had  a  conscience,  and 
would  only  get  out  of  the  rut  of  the  ages,  they  too 
might  go  ahead,  explaining  incidentally  to  them  that 
as  lights  of  the  church  at  Tong-ch'uan-fu,  it  was  their 
sacred  duty  to  raise  the  standard  of  moral  living 
among  their  countrymen  wherever  they  might  wander. 
Their  general  acquiescence  was  astounding,  and  in 
the  next  town,  Lu-chiang-pa,  these  two  men  put 
their  theory  into  practice  and  almost  caused  a  riot 
by  offering  250  cash  for  a  fowl  for  which  the  vendor 
blandly  asked  1,000.  But  they  got  the  chicken — 
and  at  their  own  price  too. 

As  I  was  thus  gently  in  soliloquy,  I  first  heard 
and  then  caught  sight  of  the  river  below — the 
unnavigable  Salwen,  2,000  feet  lower  than  either  the 
Mekong  or  the  Shweli  (which  we  were  to  cross  two 
days  later) .  It  is  a  pity  the  Salwen  was  not  preserved 
as  the  boundary  between  Burma  and  China. 

Gradually,  as  we  approached  the  steep  stone  steps 
leading  down  thereto,  I  saw  one  of  the  cleverest 
pieces  of  native  engineering  in  Asia — the  double 
suspension  bridge  which  here  spans  the  Salwen,  the 
only  one  I  had  seen  in  my  trip  across  the  Empire. 
The  first  span,  some  240  feet  by  36  feet,  reaches  from 
the  natural  rock,  down  which  a  vertical  path  zigzags 
to  the  foot,  and  the  second  span  then  runs  over  to  the 
busy  little  town  of  Lu-chiang-pa. 

Here,  then,  were  we  in  the  most  dreaded 
spot  in  Western  China !  If  you  stay  a  night  in 
this  Valley,  rumour  says,  you  go  to  bed  for  the 
last  time  ;  Chinamen  are  afraid  of  it,  Europeans 
dare  not  linger  in  it.  Malaria  stalks  abroad  for 
her  victims,  and  snatches  everyone  who  dallies 
in    his    journey    to    the    topside  mountain  village 

355 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

of  Feng-shui-ling.     The  river  is  2,000  feet  above  the 
sea  ;   Feng-shui-Hng  is  nearly  9,000  feet. 
\      It  was  ten  o'clock  as  I  pulled  over  my  stool  and 
took  tea  in  the  crowded  shop  at  Lu-chiang-pa.     I  saw 
Shans  here  for  the  first  time.  '  •. 

The  village  now,  however,  is  anything  but  a  Shan 
village.  Of  the  people  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
I  counted  only  ten  typical  Shans,  and  of  the  company 
around  me  in  this  popular  tea-house  twenty-one  out 
of  twenty-eight  were  Chinese,  including  ten  Moham- 
medans. It  was,  however,  easy  to  see  that  several 
of  these  were  of  Shan  extraction,  who,  although 
they  had  features  distinctly  un-Chinese,  had  adopted 
the  Chinese  language  and  custom.  A  party  of 
Tibetans  were  here  in  the  charge  of  a  Lama,  in 
an  inner  court,  and  scampered  off  as  I  rose  to 
snap  their  photographs.  This  was  a  very  low  lati- 
jtude  for  Tibetans  to  reach. 

Whilst  I  sipped  my  tea  the  local  horse  dealer 
wanted  so  very  much  to  sell  me  a  pony  cheap.  He 
offered  it  for  forty  taels,  I  offered  him  five.  It  was 
gone  in  the  back,  was  blind  in  the  left  eye,  and  was 
at  least  seventeen  years  old.  The  man  smiled  as  I 
refused  to  buy,  and  told  me  that  my  knowledge  of 
horse-flesh  was  wonderful. 

The  road  then  led  up  to  a  plain,  where  paths 
"branched  in  many  directions  to  the  hills.  Men 
either  going  to  the  market  or  coming  from  it  leaned 
on  their  loads  to  rest  under  enormous  banyans  and 
to  watch  me  as  I  passed.  Horses  browsed  on  the 
hill-sides.  One  of  my  soldiers  had  laid  in  provisions 
for  the  day,  and  ran  along  with  his  gun  (muzzle 
forward)  over  one  shoulder  and  four  lengths  of  sugar- 
cane over  the  other.  Ploughmen  with  their  buffaloes 
halted  in  the  muddy  fields  to  gaze  admiringly  upon 

356 


Gi'oiip  of  Ywi-nan  MoJiaiiuuedaiis. 

Note  the  third  man  from  the  left  in  the  bottom  row,  who  by  his  features 
is  easily  distinguished  from  a  Chinaman. 


General  vieiv  shozmiis!  method  of  ivvigation  in  Szecli\i'an  and  Yiin-nan. 


^ 

rj 

^J^ 

C^ 

c 

^ 

5^ 

Id 

^^ 

"S 

> 

o 

X 

r-i 

tuO. 

MEKONG    VALLEY    TO    TENGYUEH. 

me  ;  women  ran  scared  from  the  path  when  my  pony 
let  out  at  a  casual  passer-by  who  tickled  him  with 
a  thin  bamboo.  Maidenhair  ferns  grew  in  great 
profusion,  showing  that  we  were  getting  into  warmer 
climate  ;  streams  rushed  swiftly  under  the  stone 
roadway  from  dyked-up  dams  to  facilitate  the 
irrigation,  at  which  the  Chinese  are  such  past- 
masters.  All  was  smihng  and  warm  and  bright, 
dispelHng  in  one's  mind  all  sense  of  gloom,  and 
breeding  an  optimistic  outlook. 

We  were  now  a  party  of  nine — my  own  three  men, 
an  extra  coolie  I  had  engaged  to  rush  Tengyueh  in 
three  days  from  Yung-ch'ang,  four  soldiers,  and  the 
paymaster  of  the  crowd.  We  still  had  ninety  li  ta 
cover,  so  that  when  we  left  the  shade  of  two  immense 
trees  which  sheltered  me  and  my  perspiring  men» 
one  of  the  soldiers  agreed  that  everyone  had  to  clear 
from  our  path.  We  brooked  no  interception  until 
we  reached  the  entrance  to  the  climb,  where  I  met 
two  Europeans,  of  the  Customs  staff  at  Tengyueh, 
who  had  come  down  here  to  camp  out  for  the  Chinese 
New  Year  Holiday.  I  knew  that  these  men  were 
not  Englishmen.  I  was  so  thirsty,  and  the  best  they 
could  do  was  to  keep  a  man  talking  in  the  sun  outside 
their  well-equipped  tent.  How  I  could  have  done 
with  a  drink  ! 

A  tributary  of  the  Salwen  flows  down  the 
ravine.  Too  terrible  a  climb  to  the  top  was  it  for 
me  to  take  notes.  I  got  too  tired.  Everything  was 
magnificently  green,  and  Nature's  reproduction 
seemed  to  be  going  on  whilst  one  gazed  upon  her. 
But  the  natural  glories  of  this  beautiful  gorge,  with 
a  dainty  touch  of  the  tropical  mingling  with  the 
mighty  aspect  of  jungle  forest,  with  glistening 
cascades  and  rippling  streams,  where  all  was  bountiful 

357 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

and  exquisitely  beautiful,  failed  to  hold  one  spell- 
bound. For  since  I  had  left  Tali-fu  I  had  rarely  been 
out  of  sight  of  some  of  the  best  scenery  on  earth. 
Yet  vegetation  was  very  different  to  that  which  we 
had  been  passing.  There  were  now  banyans,  palms, 
plantains,  and  many  ferns,  trees  and  shrubs  and 
other  products  of  warmer  climates,  which  one  found 
in  Burma.  What  impressed  me  farther  up  was  the 
marvellous  growth  of  bamboos,  some  rising  120  feet 
and  130  feet  at  the  bend,  and  in  their  various  tints 
of  green  looking  like  delicate  feathers  against  the  haze 
of  the  sky-line,  upon  which  houses  built  of  bamboo 
from  floor  to  roof  seemed  temporarily  perched, 
whilst  others  seemed  to  be  tumbling  down  into  the 
valley.  This  spot  was  the  nearest  approach  to  real 
jungle  I  had  seen  in  China ;  but  whilst  we  were 
climbing  laboriously  through  this  densely-covered 
country,  over  opposite — it  seemed  no  more  than 
a  stone's-throw — the  hills  were  almost  bare,  save  for 
the  isolated  cultivation  of  the  peasantry  at  the  base. 
But  then  came  a  division,  appearing  suddenly  to  view 
farther  along  around  a  bend,  and  I  saw  a  continuation 
of  the  range,  rising  even  higher,  and  with  a  tree  growth 
even  more  magnificent,  denser  and  darker  still. 

I  came  here  upon  a  party  of  soldiers  with  foreign 
military  peak  caps  on  their  heads,  which  they  wore 
outside  over  their  Chinese  caps.  In  fact,  the  only  two 
other  garments  besides  these  Chinese  caps  were  the 
distinguishing  marks  of  the  military.  Coats  they  had, 
but  they  had  been  discarded  at  the  foot  of  the  climb, 
rolled  into  one  bundle,  and  tied  together  with  a  piece 
of  ribbon  generally  worn  by  the  carrier  to  keep  his 
trousers  tight.  We  were  now  in  summer  heat,  and 
this  military  quintet  made  a  peculiar  sight  in 
dusty  trousers,  peak  caps  and  straw  sandals,  with 

358 


MEKONG   VALLEY    TO   TENGYUEH. 

the  perspiration  streaming  freely  down  their  naked 
backs  as  they  plodded  upwards  under  a  pitiless 
sun.  Thus  were  they  clad  when  I  met  them  ;  but 
catching  sight  of  my  distinguished  person,  mistaking 
me  for  a  "  gwan,"  they  immediately  made  a  rush 
for  the  man  carrying  the  tunics,  to  clothe  themselves 
for  my  presence  with  seemly  respectability.  But 
a  word  from  my  boy  put  their  minds  at  rest  (my 
own  military  were  far  in  the  rear).  A  couple  of 
them  then  came  forward  to  me  sniggeringly,  satisfied 
that  they  were  not  to  be  reported  to  Peking  or 
wherever  their  commander-in-chief  may  have  his 
residence — they  probably  had  no  more  idea  than 
I  had. 

By  the  side  of  a  roaring  waterfall,  in  a  spot  which 
looked  a  very  fairyland  in  surroundings  of  repro- 
ductive green,  we  all  sat  down  to  rest.  The  air  was 
cool  and  the  path  was  damp,  and  water  tumbling 
everywhere  down  from  the  rocks  formed  pretty 
cascades  and  rivulets.  We  heard  the  clang  of  the 
hatchets,  and  soon  came  upon  men  felling  timber  and 
sawing  up  trees  into  coffin  boards.  We  were  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Shadow,  and  it  was  the  finest  coffin 
centre  of  the  district.  I  took  my  boots  off  to  wade 
through  water  which  overran  the  pathway,  and  just 
beyond  my  men,  exhausted  with  their  awful  toil, 
lay  flat  on  their  backs  to  rest ;  they  were  dead  beat. 
One  pointed  up  to  the  perpendicular  cliff,  momen- 
tarily closed  his  eyes  and  looked  at  me  in  disgust. 
I  gently  remonstrated.  It  was  not  my  country, 
I  told  him;  it  was  the  "  Emperor's."  And  after  a 
time  we  reached  the  top. 

Shadows  were  lengthening.  In  the  distance  we 
saw  the  mountains  upon  which  we  had  spent  the 
previous  night,  whose  tops  were  gilded  by  the  setting 

359 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

sun.  Down  below  all  was  already  dark.  A  cold 
wind  blew  the  trees  bending  wearily  towards  the 
Valley. 

And  still  we  plodded  on. 


We  had  come  to  Siao-p'ing-ho,  115  li  instead  of  the 
140  I  had  been  led  to  believe  my  men  would  cover. 
Every  room  in  the  hut  was  full,  we  were  told,  but  the 
next  place  (with  some  unpronounceable  name) ,  fifteen 
li  farther  down,  would  give  us  good  housing  for  the 
night.  Lao  Chang  and  I  resolved  to  go  on,  tired  though 
we  were.  Before  I  resolved  on  this  plan  I  stopped 
to  take  a  careful  survey  of  the  exact  situation  of  the 
sheltering  hollow  in  which  we  meant  to  pass  the 
night.  The  sun  was  fast  sinking  ;  the  dust  of  the 
road  lay  grey  and  thick  about  my  feet ;  above  me 
the  heavens  were  reddening  in  sunset  glory  ;  the 
landscape  had  no  touch  of  human  life  about  it 
save  our  own  two  solitary  figures  ;  and  the  place, 
fifteen  li  away,  lay  before  me  as  a  dream  of  a  good 
night  rather  than  a  reality. 

Then  on  again  we  plodded,  and  yelled  our  in- 
tentions to  the  men  behind. 

From  the  brow  of  the  hill  we  descended  with 
extreme  rapidity — down,  down  into  a  valley 
which  sent  up  a  damp,  oppressive  atmosphere. 
Through  the  trees  I  could  see  one  lovely  ball  of  deep, 
rich  red,  painting  the  earth  as  it  sank  in  a  beauty 
exquisite  beyond  all  else.  Four  men  met  us,  stared 
suspiciously,  thought  we  were  deaf,  and  yelled  that 
the  place  was  twenty  li  away,  and  that  we  had  better 
return  to  the  brow  of  the  hill.  But  we  left  them, 
and  went  still  farther  down.  In  the  hush  that 
prevailed  I  was  unaccountably  startled  to  see  the 

3C0 


MEKONG    VALLEY    TO    TENGYUEH. 

form  of  a  woman  gliding  towards  me  in  the  twilight. 
She  came  out  of  the  valley  carrying  firewood.  She 
spoke  kindly  to  my  man,  and  invited  me  to  spend 
the  night  in  her  house  near  by. 

I  was  for  the  moment  vaguely  awed  by  her  very 
quiescence,  and  gazed  wondering,  doubting,  be- 
wildered. What  was  the  little  trick  ?  Could  I  not 
from  such  things  get  free,  even  in  Inland  China  ? 
The  red  light  of  the  sunken  sun  playing  round  her 
comely  figure  dazzled  me,  it  is  admitted,  and  I 
followed  her  with  a  sigh  of  mingled  dread  and  desire 
for  rest.  Shall  I  say  the  shadow  of  the  smile  upon 
her  lips  deepened  and  softened  with  an  infinite 
compassion  ? 

Dogs  rounded  upon  me  as  I  entered  the  bamboo 
hut  stuck  on  the  side  of  the  hill — they  knew  I  had 
no  right  there.  Inside  a  man  was  nursing  a  squalling^ 
baby ;  our  escort  was  its  mother,  the  man  her 
husband.  So  I  was  safe.  The  place  was  swept  up, 
unnecessary  gear  was  taken  away,  fire  was  kindled, 
tea  was  brewed,  rice  was  prepared;  and  whilst  in 
shaving  (for  we  were  to  reach  Tengyueh  on  the 
morrow)  I  dodged  here  and  there  to  escape  the 
smoke  and  get  the  most  light,  giving  my  hospitable 
host  a  good  deal  of  fun  in  so  doing,  every  possible 
preparation  was  made  for  my  comfort  and  con- 
venience by  the  untiring  woman  at  whose  invitation 
I  was  there.  Their  attentions  embarrassed  me ; 
every  movement,  every  look,  every  gesture,  every 
wish  was  anticipated,  so  that  I  had  no  more  dis- 
comfort than  a  roaring  wind  and  a  low  temperature 
about  the  region  which  no  one  could  help.  It  was 
bitterly  cold.  In  front  of  the  fire  I  sat  in  an  overcoat 
among  the  crowd  drinking  tea,  whilst  the  soldiers 
drank  wine — they  bought  five  cash  worth.     Had  my 

361 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

lamp  oil  run  out,  I  should  have  bought  liquor  and 
tried  to  bum  it  instead.  Soon  the  spirit  began  to 
talk,  and  these  braves  of  the  Chinese  army  got  on 
terms  of  freest  familiarity,  telling  me  what  an  all- 
round  excellent  fellow  I  was,  and  how  pleased  they 
were  that  I  had  to  suffer  as  well  as  they.  But  they 
never  forgot  themselves,  and  I  allowed  them  to 
wander  on  uncontradicted  and  unrestrained.  After 
a  weary  night  of  tossing  in  my  p'ukai,  with  a 
roaring  gale  blowing  through  the  latticed  bamboo, 
behind  which  I  lay  so  poorly  sheltered,  we  started  in 
good  spirits. 

Twenty-five  li  farther  we  reached  Kan-lan-chai 
(4,800  feet),  February  9th,  1910,  New  Year's 
morning.  Nothing  could  be  bought.  Everywhere 
the  people  said,  "  Puh  mai,  puh  mai,"  and  although 
we  had  travelled  the  twenty-five  li  over  a  terrible  road, 
with  a  fearful  gradient  at  the  end,  we  could  not  get 
anyone  to  make  tea  for  us.  It  is  distinctly  against 
the  Chinese  custom  to  sell  anything  at  New  Year 
time,  of  course.  We  had  to  boil  our  own  water  and 
make  our  own  tea.  A  larger  crowd  than  usual 
gathered  around  me  because  of  the  general  holiday ; 
and  as  I  write  now  I  am  seated  in  my  folding-chair 
with  all  the  reprobates  near  to  me — men  gazing 
emptily,  women  who  have  rushed  from  their  houses 
combing  their  hair  and  nursing  their  babies,  the 
beggars  with  their  poles  and  bowls,  numberless 
urchins,  all  open-mouthed  and  curious.  These  are 
kept  from  crowding  over  me  by  the  two  soldiers, 
who  the  day  before  had  come  on  ahead  to  book  rooms 
in  the  place.  I  stayed  at  Kan-lan-chai  on  another 
occasion.  Then  I  found  a  good  room,  but  later 
learned  that  it  was  a  horse  inn,  the  yard  of  which 
was  taken  up  by  fifty-nine  pack  animals  with  their 

362 


MEKONG    VALLEY    TO    TENGYUEH. 

loads.  Pegs  were  as  usual  driven  into  the  ground  in 
parallel  rows,  a  pair  of  ponies  being  tied  to  each — 
not  by  the  head,  but  by  the  feet,  a  nine-inch  length 
of  rope  being  attached  to  the  off  foreleg  of  one  and 
the  near  foreleg  of  the  other,  the  animals  facing  each 
other  in  rows,  and  eating  from  a  common  supply  in 
the  centre.  Everyone  in  the  small  town  was  busy 
doing  and  driving,  very  anxious  that  I  should  be 
made  comfortable,  which  might  have  been  the 
case  but  for  some  untiring  musician  who  was  travel- 
ling with  the  caravan,  and  seemed  to  be  one  of  that 
species  of  humankind  who  never  sleep.  His 
notes,  however,  were  fairly  in  harmony,  but  when  it 
runs  on  to  3.0  a.m.,  and  one  knows  that  he  has  to 
be  again  on  the  move  by  five,  even  first-rate  Chinese 
music  is  apt  to  be  somewhat  disturbing. 

From  the  Salwen-Shweli  watershed  I  got  a  fine 
view  of  the  mountains  I  had  crossed  yesterday. 
Some  ten  miles  or  so  to  the  north  was  the  highest 
peak  in  the  range — Kao-li-kung  I  think  it  is  called — 
conical-shaped  and  clear  against  the  sky,  and  some 
13,000  feet  high,  so  far  as  I  could  judge. 

An  easy  stage  brought  me  to  Tengyueh.  I  stayed 
here  a  day  only,  Mr.  Embery,  of  the  China  Inland 
Mission,  a  countryman  of  my  own,  kindly  putting 
me  up.  But  Tengyueh,  as  one  of  the  quartet  of  open 
ports  in  the  province,  is  well  known.  It  is  only  a 
small  town,  however,  and  one  was  surprised  to  find 
it  as  conservative  a  town  as  could  be  found  anywhere 
in  the  province,  despite  the  fact  that  foreigners  have 
been  here  for  many  years,  and  at  the  present  time 
there  are  no  less  than  seven  Europeans  here, 

I  was  glad  of  a  rest  here.  From  Tali-fu  had  been 
most  fatiguing. 


363 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 
THE  LI-SU  TRIBE  OF  THE  SALWEN  VALLEY. 

Travel  up  the  Salwen  Valley.  My  motive  for  travelling  and 
}iow  I  travel.  Valley  not  a  death-trap.  Meet  the  Li-su. 
Buddhistic  beliefs.  Late  Mr.  G.  Litton  as  a  traveller. 
Resemblance  in  religion  to  Kachins.  Ghost  of  ancestral 
spirits.  Li-su  graves.  Description  of  the  people.  Racial 
differences.  John  the  Baptist's  hardship.  The  cross-bow 
and  author's  previous  experience.  Plans  for  subsequent 
travel  fall  through.     Mission  work  among  the  Li-su. 

On  my  return  journey  into  Yiin-nan,  I  stopped  at 
Lu-chiang-pa,*  and  left  my  men  at  the  inn  there  while- 
I  travelled  for  two  days  along  the  Salwen  Valley. 
My  journey  was  taken  with  no  other  motive  than  that 
of  seeing  the  country,  and  also  to  test  the  accuracy 
of  the  reports  respecting  the  general  unhealthy 
nature  of  this  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death.  The 
people  here  were  friendly,  despite  the  fact  that  my 
route  was  always  far  away  from  the  main  road ;  and 
although  my  entire  kit  was  a  single  travelHng-rug 
for  the  nights,  I  was  able  to  get  all  I  wanted.  Lao 
Chang  accompanied  me,  and  together  we  had  an 
excellent  time. 

I  might  as  well  say  first  of  all  that  the  idea  of  this 
part  of  the  Salwen  Valley  being  what  people  say  it  is- 
in  the  matter  of  a  death-trap  is  absolutely  false. 
With  the  exception  of  the  early  morning  mist 
common  in  every  low-lying  region  in  hot  countries,, 
there  was,  so  far  as  I  could  see,  nothing  to  fear. 

During  the  second  day,  through  beautiful  country 

*  The  town  by  the  double  suspension  bridge  over  the  Salwen. 
(See  p.  355). 

364 


The   Tcngyuch    Waterfall. 

The    mountains    opposite    are    about    4,000    feet    higher    than    the 
Tengyueh  Plain,  which  is  about  5,500  feet. 


'       -    —  >-^'^      .     1  1... '^.■  .     ^    ^    ^  •      ■ 


Li-su  of   Western   Yiln-nan. 

The  European  is  Mr.  Consul  Litton,  whose  diplomatic  career  in 
Yiin-nan  was  so  successful.  He  died  on  a  return  journey  from  the 
boundary,  his  body  being  brought  to  Tengyueh.  The  picture  shows  the 
war-bow  and  war-sword  of  this  primitive  people. 


Li-su  of  the   Upper  Salwen. 
A  warlilce  race  who  liave  considerable  trouble  with  tlieir  Chinese  neighbours. 


THE  LI-SU  TRIBE  OF  THE  SALWEN  VALLEY. 

in  beautiful  weather,  I  came  across  some  people  who 
I  presumed  were  Li-su,  and  I  regretted  that  my  films 
had  all  been  exposed.     I  mentioned  the  matter  to 
my  friend  Dr.  Clark,  of  Tali-fu,  however,  and  he  was 
able  to  supply   me   with    the  photographs   of  this 
people  which  are  here  reproduced.     The  Li-su  tribe  is 
undoubtedly  an  offshoot  from  the  people  who  inhabit 
south-eastern  Tibet,  although  none  of  them  anywhere 
in  Yiin-nan — and  they  are  found  in  many  places  in 
central  and  eastern  Yiin-nan — bear  any  traces  of 
Buddhistic   belief,    which    is    universal,    of   course, 
in  Tibet.     The  late  Mr.  G.  Litton,  who  at  the  time 
he    was    acting    as    British    Consul    at    Tengyueh 
travelled  somewhat  extensively  among  them,  says 
that  their  religious  practices  closely  resemble  those 
of  the  Kachins,  who  believe   in   numerous   "  nats  " 
■or  spirits  which  cause  various    calamities,    such    as 
failure    of   crops  and  physical  ailments,  unless  pro- 
pitiated   in    a    suitable     manner.       According     to 
him,    the   most   important  spirit    is    the    ancestral 
ghost.     Li-su  graves  are  generally  in  the  fields  near 
the  villages,  and  over  them  is  put   the  cross-bow, 
rice-bags  and  other  articles  used  by  the  deceased. 
"  It  is  probably  from  foundations  such  as  these," 
writes  Mr.   George  Forrest,  who  accompanied  Mr. 
Litton  on  an  excursion  to  the  Upper  Sal  wen,  and  who 
wrote    up    the    journey    after    the    death    of    his 
companion,    "  that   the   fabric   of  Chinese   ancestor 
worship  was  constructed,"   a  view  which  I  doubt 
very  much  indeed. 

I  am  of  opinion  that  the  Li-su  may  be  closely 
allied  to  the  Lolo  or  the  Nou  Su,  of  whom  I 
have  spoken  in  the  chapters  in  Book  I  dealing 
with  the  tribes  around  Chao-t'ong.  And  even  the 
Miao   bear   a   distinct   racial   resemblance,    as    the 

365 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

reader  himself  may  see  by  comparing  the  photo- 
graphs. They  are  of  bony  physique,  high  cheek 
bones,  and  their  skin  is  nearly  of  the  same  almost 
sepia  colour.  The  Li-su  form  practically  the  whole 
of  the  population  of  the  Upper  Salwen  Valley  from 
about  lat.  25°  30'  to  27°  30',  and  they  have  spread  in 
considerable  numbers  along  the  mountains  between 
the  Shweli  and  the  Irawadi,  and  are  found  also  in 
the  Shan  States.  Those  on  the  Upper  Salwen  in  the 
extreme  north  are  utter  savages,  but  where  they  have 
become  more  or  less  civilised  have  shown  themselves 
to  be  an  enterprising  race  in  the  way  of  emigration. 
Of  the  savages,  the  villages  are  almost  always  at  war 
with  each  other,  and  many  have  never  been  farther 
from  their  huts  than  a  day's  march  will  take  them, 
the  chief  object  of  their  lives  being  apparently^O 
keep  their  neighbours  at  a  distance.  They  are 
exceedingly  lazy.  They  spend  their  lives  doing  as 
little  in  the  way  of  work  as  they  must,  eating, 
drinking,  squatting  about  round  the  hearth  telling 
stories  of  their  valour  with  the  cross-bow,  and  their 
excitement  is  provided  by  an  occasional  expedition 
to  get  wood  for  their  cross-bows  and  poison  for  their 
arrows,  or  a  stock  of  salt  and  wild  honey. 

Mt.  Forrest,  in  his  paper  which  was  read  before  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society  in  June,  1908,  speaks 
of  this  wild  honey  as  an  agreeable  sweetmeat  as  a 
change,  but  that  after  a  few  days'  constant  partaking 
of  it  the  European  palate  rejects  it  as  nauseous  and 
almost  disgusting,  and  adds  that  it  has  escaped  the 
Biblical  commentators  that  one  of  the  principal 
hardships  which  John  the  Baptist  must  have  under- 
gone was  his  diet  of  wild  honey.  In  another  part  of 
his  paper  the  writer  says,  speaking  of  the  cross-bow 
to  which  I  have  referred  :    "  Every  Li-su  with  any 

366 


THE  LI-SU  TRIBE  OF  THE  SALWEN  VALLEY. 

pretensions  to  chic  possesses  at  least  one  of  these 
weapons — one  for  every-day  use  in  hunting,  the 
other  for  war.  The  children  play  with  miniature 
cross-bows.  The  men  never  leave  their  huts  for  any 
purpose  without  their  cross-bows,  when  they  go  to 
sleep  the  '  na-kung  '  is  hung  over  their  heads,  and 
when  they  die  it  is  hung  over  their  graves.  The 
largest  cross-bows  have  a  span  of  fully  five  feet, 
and  require  a  pull  of  thirty-five  pounds  to  string 
them.  The  bow  is  made  of  a  species  of  wild  mulberry, 
of  great  toughness  and  flexibility.  The  stock,  some 
four  feet  long  in  the  war-bows,  is  usually  of  wild  plum 
wood,  the  string  is  of  plaited  hemp,  and  the  trigger 
of  bone.  The  arrow,  of  sixteen  to  eighteen  inches, 
is  of  split  bamboo,  about  four  times  the  thickness 
of  an  ordinary  knitting  needle,  hardened  and  pointed. 
The  actual  point  is  bare  for  a  quarter  to  one-third 
of  an  inch,  then  for  fully  an  inch  the  arrow  is  stripped 
to  half  its  thickness,  and  on  this  portion  the  poison 
is  placed.  The  poison  used  is  invariably  a  decoction 
expressed  from  the  tubers  of  a  species  of  aconitum, 
which  grows  on  those  ranges  at  an  altitude  of  8,000 
to  10,000  feet.  .  .  .  The  reduction  in  thickness  of 
the  arrow  where  the  poison  is  placed  causes  the  point 
to  break  off  in  the  body  of  anyone  whom  it  strikes, 
and  as  each  carries  enough  poison  to  kill  a  cart  horse 
a  wound  is  invariably  fatal.  Free  and  immediate 
incision  is  the  usual  remedy  when  wounded  on'^a 
limb  or  fleshy  part  of  the  body."* 

Some  time  after  I  was  travelling  in  these  regions 
I  made  arrangements  to  visit  the  mission  station  of 
the  China  Inland  Mission,  some  days  from  Yiin-nan- 
fu,  where  a  special  work  has  recently  been  formed 

*  The  poisoned  arrows  and  the  cross-bow  are  used  also]  by  the 
Miao,  and  the  author  has  seen  very  much  the  same  thing  among 
the  Sakai  of  the  Malay  Peninsula. 

367 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON   FOOT. 

among  the  Li-su  tribe.  Owing  to  a  later  arrival  at 
the  capital  than  I  had  expected,  however,  I  could 
not  keep  my  appointment,  and  as  there  were  reports 
of  trouble  in  that  area  the  British  Consul-General 
did  not  wish  me  to  travel  off  the  main  road.  It  is 
highly  encouraging  to  learn  that  a  magnificent 
missionary  work  is  being  done  among  the  Li-su,  all 
the  more  gratifying  because  of  the  enormous  diffi- 
culties which  have  already  been  overcome  by  the 
pioneering  workers.  At  least  one  European,  if  not 
more,  has  mastered  the  language,  and  the  China 
Inland  Mission  are  expecting  great  things  to 
eventuate.  It  is  only  by  long  and  continued 
residence  among  these  peoples,  throwing  in  one's 
lot  with  them  and  living  their  life,  that  any  abso- 
lutely reliable  data  regarding  them  will  be 
forthcoming.  And  this  so  few,  of  course,  are  able 
to  do. 


368 


The  River  Taping  near  Mauyiicn. 

The  long   "dug-out"   in   the  picture   is   the    ferry    by  which   the  author 
and  his  caravan  crossed. 


'  The  author  s  caravan,  four  days  from  the  journey's  end. 

Tlie  bridge  here  appearing  is  possessed  of  a  demon  !  Often  have 
special  subscriptions  been  made  to  repair  it,  but  as  soon  as  the  rains 
set  in  and  the  river  is  formed  in  the  stony  bed  shown  above,  the  bridge 
collapses.  So  often  has  this  happened  that  the  people  refuse  to  repair 
it  again. 


The  last  market  town  in  China  before  entering  Bunna. 
The  people  are  Shans  and  Kachins. 


In 

hik^ 

rWF 

BBJBCT 

lH^il 

CI 

I^Hi 

^^K 

i      ^-'^1 

'•■■  -# 

The  first  ddk-hungaloni  met  with  on  coining  into  Bnrma  from  China. 


FIFTH    JOURNEY. 

TENGYUEH    (MOMIEN)    TO    BHAMO    IN 
UPPER    BURMA. 

CHAPTER      XXV. 

Last  stages  of  long  journey.  Characteristics  of  the  country. 
Shans  and  Kachins.  Author's  dream  of  civilisation. 
British  pride.  End  of  paved  roads.  Mountains  cease. 
A  confession  of  foiled  plans.  Nantien  as  a  questionable 
fort.  About  the  Shans.  Village  squabble,  and  how  it 
ended.  Absence  of  disagreement  in  Shan  language. 
Charming  people,  but  lazy.  Experience  with  Shan  servant. 
At  Chiu-Ch'eng.  New  Year  festivities.  After-dinner 
diversions.  Author  as  a  medico.  Ingratitude  of  the 
Chinese  :   some  itistances. 

The  Shan,  the  Kachin  and  the  abominable  betel 
quid  !  That  quid  which  makes  the  mouth  look 
bloody,  broadens  the  lips,  lays  bare  and  blackens 
the  teeth,  and  makes  the  women  hideous.  Such 
are  the  unfailing  characteristics  of  the  country 
upon  which  we  are  now  entering. 

By  the  following  stages  I  worked  my  way  wearily 
to  the  end  of  my  long  walking  journey  : — 

Length     Height  above 
of  Stage.  Sea. 

ist  day — Nantien 90  li.     5,300  ft. 

2nd   ,,      Chiu-Ch'eng    (Kang- 

gnai) 80  h.         — 


4th  „  Hsiao  Singai    . 

5th  „  Manyiien 

6th  ,,  Pa-chiao-chai 

7th  „  Mao-tsao-ti 

8th  „  Bhamo  (Singai) 


. .     60  H.         — 

. .     60  h.    2,750  ft. 

Approx.    1,200  ft. 

55  English     650  ft. 

miles.         350  ft. 


26 


369 


ACROSS    CHINA   ON    FOOT. 

Shans  here  monopolise  all  things.  Chinamen, 
although  of  late  years  drawn  to  this  low-lying  area, 
do  not  abound  in  these  parts,  and  the  Shan  is 
therefore  left  pretty  much  to  himself.  And  the 
pleasant  eight-day  march  from  Tengyueh  to  Bhamo, 
the  metropolis  of  Upper  Burma,  probably  offers  to 
the  traveller  objects  and  scenes  of  more  varying 
interest  than  any  other  stage  of  the  tramp  from  far- 
1^  away  Chung-king.  To  the  Englishman,  daily  getting 
nearer  to  the  end  of  his  long,  wearying  walk,  and 
going  for  the  first  time  into  Upper  Burma,  in- 
cidentally to  realise  again  the  dream  of  civilisation 
and  comfort  and  contact  with  his  own  kind,  leaving 
Old  China  in  the  rear,  there  instinctively  came  that 
inexpressible  patriotic  pride  every  Britisher  must 
feel  when  he  emerges  from  the  Middle  Kingdom 
and  sets  his  foot  again  on  British  territory.  The 
benefits  are  too  numerous  to  cite ;  you  must  have 
come  through  China,  and  have  had  for  companionship 
only  your  own  unsympathetic  coolies,  and  accommo- 
dation only  such  as  the  Chinese  wayside  hostelry  has 
offered,  to  be  able  fully  to  realise  what  the  luxurious 
dak-bungalows,  with  their  excellent  appointments, 
mean  to  the  returning  exile. 

Paved  roads,  the  bane  of  man  and  beast,  end  a  little 
out  of  Tengyueh.  Mountains  are  left  behind.  There 
is  no  need  now  for  struggle  and  constant  physical 
exertion  in  climbing  to  get  over  the  country.  With 
no  hills  to  climb,  no  stones  to  cut  my  feet  or 
slip  upon,  with  wide  sweeps  of  magnificent  country 
leading  three  days  later  into  dense,  tropical  jungle, 
entrancing  to  the  merest  tyro  of  a  nature  student, 
and  with  the  knowledge  that  my  walking  was 
almost  at  an  end,  all  would  have  gone  well  had 
I  been  able  to  tear  from  my  mind  the  fact  that  at 

370 


TENGYUEH    TO    BHAMO. 

this  juncture  I  should  have  to  make  to  the  reader 
a  great  confession  of  foiled  plans.  For  two  days 
I  was  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Embery,  of  the 
China  Inland  Mission,  who  was  making  an  itinerary 
among  the  tribes  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Taping, 
which  we  followed  most  of  the  time.  He  rode  a 
mule ;  and  am  I  not  justified  in  beheving  that  you 
too,  reader,  with  such  an  excellent  companion, 
one  who  had  such  a  perfect  command  of  the 
language,  and  who  could  make  the  journey  so  much 
more  interesting,  you  would  have  ridden  your  pony  ? 
I  rode  mine  !  I  abandoned  pedestrianism  and  rode 
to  Chiu-Ch'eng — two  full  days,  and  when,  after  a 
pleasant  rest  under  a  sheltering  banyan,  we  went 
our  different  ways,  I  was  sorry  indeed  to  have  to 
fall  back  upon  my  men  for  companionship. 

But  it  was  not  to  be  for  long. 

Nantien  is,  or  was,  to  be  a  fort,  but  the  little  place 
bears  no  outward  military  evidences  whatever 
which  would  lead  one  to  believe  it.  It  is  populated 
chiefly  by  Shans.  The  bulk  of  these  interesting 
people  now  live  split  up  into  a  great  number  of 
semi-independent  states,  some  tributary  to  Burma, 
some  to  China,  and  some  to  Siam  ;  and  yet  the  man- 
in-the-street  knows  little  about  them.  One  cannot 
mistake  them,  especially  the  women,  with  their 
peculiar  Mongolian  features  and  sallow  complexions 
and  characteristic  head-dress.  The  men  are  less 
distinguishable,  probably,  generally  speaking,  but 
the  rough  cotton  turban  instead  of  the  round  cap 
with  the  knob  on  the  top  alone  enables  one  more 
readily  to  pick  them  out  from  the  Chinese.  Short, 
well-built  and  strongly  made,  the  women  strike  one 
particularly  as  being  a  hardy,  healthy  set  of  people. 

Shans  are  recognised  to  be  a  peaceful  people,  but 

371 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON   FOOT. 

a  village  squabble  outside  Chin-ch'eng,  in  which  I 
took  part,  is  one  of  the  exceptions  to  prove  the 
rule. 

It  did  not  take  the  eye  of  a  hawk  or  the  ear  of  a 
pointer  to  recognise  that  a  big  row  was  in  full 
progress.  Shan  women  roundly  abused  the  men, 
and  Shan  men,  standing  afar  off,  abused  their  women. 
A  few  Chinese  who  looked  on  had  a  few  words  to  say 
to  these  "  Pai  Yi  "*  on  the  futility  of  these  everyday 
squabbles,  whilst  a  few  Shans,  mistaking  me  again 
for  a  foreign  official,  came  vigorously  to  me  pouring 
out  their  souls  over  the  whole  affair.  We  were  all 
visibly  at  cross  purposes.  I  chimed  in  with  my 
infallible  "  Puh  tong,  you  stupid  ass,  puh  tong  " 
(I  don't  understand,  I  don't  understand)  ;  and  what 
with  the  noise  of  the  disputants,  the  Chinese  by- 
standers, my  own  men  (they  were  all  acutely  dis- 
gusted with  every  Shan  in  the  district,  and  plainly 
showed  it,  because  they  could  not  be  understood  in 
speech)  and  myself  all  talking  at  once,  and  the  dogs 
who  mistook  me  for  a  beggar,  and  tried  to  get  at 
close  grips  with  me  for  being  one  of  that  fraternity, 
it  was  a  veritable  Bedlam  and  Tower  of  Babel  in 
awfuUest  combination.  At  length  I  raised  my  hand, 
mounted  a  boulder  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  and 
endeavoured  to  pacify  the  infuriated  mob.  I 
shouted  harshly,  I  brandished  my  bamboo  in 
the  air,  I  gesticulated,  I  whacked  two  men  who 
came  near  me.  At  last  they  stopped,  expecting 
me  to  speak.  Only  a  look  of  stupidest  unin- 
telligibility  could  I  return,  however,  and  had  to 
roar  with  laughter  at  the  very  foolishness  of  my 
position  up  on  that  stone.  Soon  the  multitude 
calmed  down  and  laughed  too.    I  yelled  "Ts'eo," 

*  The  Chinese  name  for  the  Shan. 
372 


TENGYUEH   TO    BHAMO. 

and  we  proceeded,  leaving  the  Shans  again  at  peace 
with  all  the  world. 

Shans  have  been  found  in  many  other  parts,  even 
as  far  north  as  the  borders  of  Tibet.  But  a  Shan, 
owing  to  the  similarity  of  his  language  in  all  parts 
of  Asia,  differs  from  the  Chinaman  or  the  Yiin-nan 
tribesman  in  that  he  can  get  on  anywhere.  It  is 
said  that  from  the  sources  of  the  Irawadi  down  to 
the  borders  of  Siamese  territory,  and  from  Assam 
to  Tonkin,  a  region  measuring  six  hundred  miles 
each  way,  and  including  the  whole  of  the  former 
Nan-chao  Empire,  the  language  is  practically  the 
same.  Dialects  exist  as  they  do  in  every  country 
in  the  world,  but  a  Shan  bom  anywhere  within  these 
bounds  will  find  himself  able  to  carry  on  a  conversa- 
tion in  parts  of  the  country  he  has  never  heard  of, 
hundreds  of  miles  from  his  own  home.  And  this  is 
more  than  six  hundred  years  after  the  fall  of  the 
Nan-chao  dynasty,  and  among  Shans  who  have 
had  no  real  political  or  commercial  relation  with 
each  other.* 

I  found  them  a  charming  people,  peaceful  and 
obliging,  treating  strangers  with  kindness  and  frank 
cordiahty.  For  the  most  part,  they  are  Buddhists. 
The  dress  of  the  Chinese  Shans,  which,  however, 
I  found  varied  in  different  localities,  leads  one  to 
believe  that  they  are  an  exceptionally  clean  race, 
but  I  can  testify  that  this  is  not  the  case.  In  many 
ways  they  are  dirtier  than  the  Chinese — notably  in 
the  preparation  of  their  food.  And  I  feel  compelled 
to  say  a  word  here  for  the  general  benefit  of  future 
travellers.  Never  expect  a  Shan  to  work  hard!  He 
can  work  hard,  and  he  will — when  he  likes,  but  I  do 

*  Vide  Yiin-nan,  iht  Link  between  India  and  the  Yangtze,  by 
Major  H.  R.  Davies. — Cambridge  University  Press. 

373 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

not    believe    that    even    the    Malay,    that   Nature's 
gentleman  of  the  farther  south,  is  lazier.  ^.. 

As  servants  they  are  failures.  A  European  in  this 
district,  whose  Chinese  servant  had  left  him,  thought 
he  would  try  a  Shan,  and  invited  a  man  to  come. 
"  Be  your  servant  ?  Of  course  I  will.  I  am 
honoured."  And  the  European  thought  at  last  he 
was  in  clover.  He  explained  that  he  should  want 
his  breakfast  at  6.0  a.m.,  that  the  servant's  duties 
would  be  to  cut  grass  for  the  horse,  go  to  the  market 
to  buy  provisions,  feed  on  the  premises,  and  leave 
for  home  to  sleep  at  7.0  p.m.  The  Shan  opened 
a  large  mouth ;  then  he  spoke.  He  would  be 
pleased,  he  said,  to  come  to  work  about  nine  o'clock ; 
that  he  had  several  marriageable  daughters  still  on 
his  hands  and  could  not  therefore,  and  would  not,  cut 
grass;  he  objected  going  to  the  market  in  the  extreme 
heat  of  the  day ;  he  could  not  think  of  eating  the 
foreigner's  food ;  and  would  go  home  to  feed  at 
i.o  p.m.  and  leave  again  finally  at  5.0  p.m.  for  the 
same  purpose.  He  left  before  five  p.m.  Another 
man  was  called  in.  He  was  quite  cheery,  and  came 
in  and  out  and  did  what  he  pleased.  On  being 
asked  what  he  would  require  as  salary,  he  replied, 
"  Oh,  give  me  a  rupee  every  market  day,  and  that  '11 
do  me."  The  person  was  not  in  service  when 
market  day  rolled  round,  and  I  hear  that  this 
European,  who  loves  experiments  of  this  kind,  has 
gone  back  to  the  Chinaman. 

Chiu-Ch'eng  (Kang-gnai)  was  going  through  a  sort 
of  New  Year  carousal  as  I  entered  the  to\\Ti,  and 
(everybody  was  garmented   for  the   festival. 

I  had  great  difficulty  in  getting  a  place  to  put 
np  at.  People  allowed  me  to  career  about  in  search 
»)t  a  room,  treating  me  with  courteous  indifference, 

374 


TENGYUEH   TO    BHAMO. 

but  none  offered  to  house  me.  At  last  the  head- 
man of  the  village  appeared,  and  with  many  kindly 
expressions  of  unintelligibility  led  me  to  his  house. 
A  crowd  had  gathered  in  the  street,  and  several  women 
were  taking  from  the  front  room  the  general  stock-in- 
trade  of  the  village  ironmonger.  Scores  of  huge  iron 
cooking  pans  were  being  passed  through  the  window, 
tables  were  pushed  noisily  through  the  doorway, 
primitive  cooking  appliances  were  being  hurled 
about  in  the  air,  bamboo  baskets  came  out  by  the 
dozen,  and  there  was  much  else.  Bags  of  paddy, 
old  chairs  (the  low  stool  of  the  Shan,  with  a  thirty- 
inch  back),  drawers  of  copper  cash,  brooms,  a  few 
old  spears,  pots  of  pork  fat,  barrels  of  wine  (the  same 
as  I  had  blistered  the  foot  of  a  pony  with),  two  or 
three  old  p'u-kai,  worn-out  clothes,  disused  ladies' 
shoes,  babies'  gear,  and  last  of  all  the  man  himself 
appeared.  Men  and  women  set  to  to  clean  up,  an  old 
woman  clasped  me  to  her  bosom,  and  I  was  bidden  to 
enter.  New  Year  festivities  were  for  the  nonce 
neglected  for  the  novel  delight  of  gazing  upon  the 
inner  domesticity  of  this  travelling  wonder,  into  his 
very  holy  of  holies.  I  received  nine  invitations  to 
dinner.     I  dined  with  mine  host  and  his  six  sons. 

Through  the  heavy  evening  murk  a  dull  clangour 
stirred  the  air — the  tolling  of  shrill  bells  and  the 
beating  of  dull  gongs,  and  all  the  hideous  parapher- 
nalia of  Eastern  celebrations.  The  populace — Shan 
almost  to  a  man — were  bent  on  seeing  me,  a  task 
rendered  difficult  by  the  gathering  darkness  of  night. 
Soldiers  guarded  the  way,  and  there  were  several 
broken  heads.  They  came,  stared  and  wondered, 
and  then  passed  away  for  others  to  come  in  shoals, 
laughingly,  and  seeming  no  longer  to  harbour  the 
hostile  feelings  apparent  as  I  entered  the  rown. 

375 


ACROSS    CHINA   ON    FOOT. 

My  shaving  magnifier  amused  them  wonderfully. 

There  was  an  outcry  as  I  entered  the  room  after 
we  had  dined,  followed  by  a  scream  of  women  in 
almost  hysterical  laughter.  When  they  caught  sight 
of  me,  however,  a  brief  pause  ensued,  and  the 
solemn  hush,  that  even  in  a  callous  crowd  in- 
variably attends  the  actual  presence  of  a  long- 
awaited  personage,  reigned  unbroken  for  a  while  ; 
then  one  spoke,  then  another  ventured  to  address 
me,  and  the  spell  of  silence  gave  way  to  noise  and 
general  excitability,  and  the  people  began  speedily 
to  close  upon  me,  anxious  to  get  a  glimpse  of  such  a 
peculiar  white  man.  Later  on,  when  the  shutters 
were  up  and  the  public  thus  kept  off,  the  family 
foregathered  unasked  into  my  room,  bringing  with 
them  their  own  tea  and  nuts,  and  laying  themselves 
out  to  be  entertained.  My  whole  gear,  now  reduced 
to  most  meagre  proportions,  was  scrutinised  by  all. 
There  were  four  men  and  five  women,  the  usual 
offshoots,  and  the  aged  couple  who  held  proprietary 
rights  over  the  place.  They  sat  on  my  bed,  on  my 
boxes  ;  one  of  the  children  sat  on  my  knee,  and  the 
ladies,  seemingly  of  the  easiest  virtue,  overhauled 
my  bedclothes  unblushingly.  The  murmuring  noise 
of  the  vast  expectant  New  Year  multitude  died  off 
gradually,  like  the  retreating  surge  of  a  distant  sea, 
and  the  hot  motionless  atmosphere  in  my  room,  with 
eleven  people  stepping  on  each  other's  toes  in  the 
cramped  area,  became  more  and  more  weightily 
intensified.  The  husband  of  one  of  the  women — a 
miserable,  emaciated  specimen  for  a  Shan — came 
forward,  asking  whether  I  could  cure  his  disease. 
I  fear  he  will  never  be  cured.  His  arm  and  one  side 
of  his  body  was  one  mass  of  sores.  Before  it  could 
be  seen   four  layers   of   Chinese  paper  had   to   be 

376 


TENGYUEH    TO    BHAMO. 

removed,  one  huge  plantain  leaf,  and  a  thick  layer  of 
black  stuff  resembling  tar.  I  was  busy  for  some 
thirty  minutes  dressing  it  with  new  bandages.  I 
then  gave  him  ointment  for  subsequent  dressings, 
whereupon  he  put  on  his  coat  and  walked  out  of  the 
room  (leaving  the  door  open  as  he  went)  without 
even  a  word  of  gratitude. 

The  Chinese  pride  themselves  upon  their  gratitude. 
It  is  vigorous  towards  the  dead  and  perhaps  towards 
the  emperor  (although  this  may  be  doubted),  but 
as  a  grace  of  daily  life  it  is  almost  absent.  I  have 
known  cases  where  missionaries  have  got  up  in  the 
middle  of  the  night  to  attend  to  poisoning  cases  and 
accidents  requiring  urgent  treatment,  have  known 
them  attend  to  people  at  great  distances  from  their 
own  homes  and  make  them  better ;  but  never  a  word 
of  thanks — not  even  the  mere  pittance  charged  for 
the  actual  cost  of  medicine. 


377 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

Two  days  from  Burma.  Tropical  wildness  induces  ennui. 
The  River  Taping.  At  Hsiao  Singai.  Possibility  of 
West  China  as  a  holiday  resort  from  Burma.  Fascination 
of  the  country.  Manyiien  reached  with  difficulty.  The 
Kachins.  Good  work  of  the  American  Baptist  Mission. 
Mr.  Roberts.  Arrival  at  borderland  of  Burma.  Last 
dealings  with  Chinese  officials.  British  territory.  Thoughts 
on  the  trend  of  progress  in  China.  Beautiful  Burma.  End 
of  long  journey. 

I  WAS  now  two  days'  march  from  the  British 
Burma  border.  The  landscape  in  this  district  was 
solemn  and  imposing  as  I  trudged  on  again,  very 
tired  indeed,  after  a  day's  rest  at  Chiu-ch'eng. 
In  the  morning  heavy  tropical  vapours  of  milky 
whiteness  stretched  over  the  sky  and  the  earth. 
Nature  seemed  sleeping,  as  if  v/rapped  in  a  light 
veil.  It  attracted  me  and  absorbed  me,  dreaming, 
in  spite  of  myself  ;  ennui  invaded  me  at  first,  and 
under  the  all-powerful  constraint  of  influences  so 
fatal  to  human  personality  thought  died  away  by 
degrees  like  a  flame  in  a  vacuum  ;  for  I  was  again 
in  the  East,  the  real,  luxurious,  indolent  East,  the 
true  land  of  Pantheism,  and  one  must  go  there  to 
realise  the  indefinable  sensations  which  almost  make 
the  Nirvana  of  the  Buddhist  comprehensible. 

The  river  Taping  farther  down,  so  different  to  its 
aspect  a  couple  of  days  ago,  where  it  rushed  at  a 
tremendous  speed  over  its  rocky  bed,  was  now  broad 
and  calm  and  placid,  and  extremely  picturesque. 
The  banks  were  covered  with  trees  beyond  Manyiien. 
Near  the  water  the  undergrowth  was  of  a  fine  green, 

378 


TENGYUEH    TO    BHAMO. 

but  on  a  higher  level  the  yellow  and  red  leaves, 
hardly  holding  on  to  the  withered  trees,  were  carried 
away  with  the  slightest  breath  of  wind.     ;.^/J 

At  Hsiao  Singai,  on  February  15th;  I  again  had 
difficulty  in  getting  a  room  ;  so  I  waited,  and  whilst 
my  men  searched  about  for  a  place  where  I  could 
sleep,  an  extremely  tall  fellow  came  up  to  me,  and 
having  felt  with  his  finger  and  thumb  the  texture 
of  my  tweeds  and  expressed  satisfaction  thereof, 
said — 

"  Come,  elder  brother,  I  have  my  dwehing  in  this 
hostelry,  and  my  upper  chamber  is  at  your  disposal." 
And  then  he  added  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  "  Ko 
nien,  ko  nien,"*  whereat  I  became  wary. 

Lao  Chang,  however,  was  more  cute.  Whilst  I 
was  assuring  this  well-dressed  holiday-maker  that 
he  must  not  think  the  stranger  churlish  in  not  accept- 
ing at  once  the  proffered  services,  but  that  I  would 
go  to  look  at  the  room,  he  sprang  past  us  and  went 
on  ahead.  In  a  few  moments  I  was  slowly  going 
hence  with  the  multitude.  Lao  Chang  nodded 
carelessly  to  the  strange  company  there  assembled, 
and  passing  through  the  room  with  a  soft,  cat-like 
tread,  began  to  ascend  a  dark  flight  of  narrow  stairs 
leading  to  the  second  floor  of  the  inn.  And  I,  down 
below  startled  and  bewildered  by  mysterious  words 
from  everyone,  watched  his  blue  garments  vanishing 
upwards,  and  like  a  man  driven  by  irresistible 
necessity,  muttered  incoherent  excuses  to  my  amazed 
companions,  and  in  a  blind,  unreasoning,  uncon- 
querable impulse  rushed  after  him.  But  I  wish  I 
had  not.  There  were  several  ladies,  who,  all  more 
or  less  en  deshabille,  scampered  around  with  their 
bundles  of  gear — sewing,  babies'   clothes,  tin  pots, 

*  i.e.  New  Year,  New  Year. 

379 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

hair  ornaments,  boxes  of  powder  and  scented  soap 
of  that  finest  quality  imported  from  Burma,  selhng 
for  less  than  you  can  buy  the  genuine  article  for  in 
London ! — and  then  we  took  possession. 

If  once  there  is  a  railway  to  Tengyueh  from  Burma, 
a  visit  to  West  China,  even  on  to  Tali-fu,  for  those 
who  are  prepared  to  rough  it  a  little,  will  become 
quite  a  common  trip.  A  few  days  up  the  Irawadi 
to  Bhamo,  through  scenery  of  a  pecuHar  kind  of 
beauty  eclipsed  on  none  other  of  the  world's  great 
rivers,  would  be  succeeded  by  a  day  or  two  over 
some  of  the  best  country  which  Upper  Burma  any- 
where affords,  and  then,  when  once  past  Tengyueh, 
the  grandeur  of  the  mountains  is  amply  compensating 
to  those  who  love  Nature  in  her  beautiful  isolation 
and  peace.  From  a  recuperating  standpoint,  perhaps, 
it  would  not  quite  answer — the  rains  would  be  a  draw- 
back to  road  travel,  and  it  would  at  best  mean 
roughing  it ;  but  for  the  many  in  Burma  who  wish 
to  take  a  holiday  and  have  not  the  time  to  go  to 
Europe,  I  see  no  reason  why  Tengyueh  should  not 
develop  into  what  Darjeeling  is  to  Calcutta  and 
what  Japan  is  to  the  British  ports  farther  East. 
Expense  would  not  be  heavy.  To  Bhamo  would  be 
easy.  As  things  now  stand,  with  no  railway,  one 
would  need  to  take  a  few  provisions  and  cooking 
utensils,  and  a  camp  bed  and  tent,  unless  one  would 
be  prepared  to  do  as  the  author  did,  and  patronise 
Chinese  inns,  such  as  they  are.  The  rest  would  be 
easy  to  get  on  the  road.  For  three  days  from 
Bhamo  dak  bungalows  are  available,  and  to  a  man 
knowing  the  country  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to 
^arrange  his  comforts.  To  one  who  knows  the  con- 
'  ditions,  there  is  in  the  trip  a  good  deal  to  fascinate  ; 
for  in  the  lives  and  customs  of  the  people,  in  the 

380 


TENGYUEH    TO    BHAMO. 

nature  of  the  country,  in  the  free-and-easy  life  the 
traveller  would  himself  develop — having  a  peep  at 
things  as  they  were  back  in  the  ancient  days  of  the 
Bible — to  the  brain-fagged  professional  or  commercial 
there  is  nothing  better  in  the  whole  of  the  East. 

He  would  get  some  excellent  shooting,  especially  in 
the  Salwen  Valley,  not  exactly  a  health  resort,  how- 
ever ;  and  had  he  inclinations  towards  botanical, 
ethnological,  craniological,  or  philological  studies,  he 
would  be  at  a  loss  to  find  anywhere  in  the  world  a 
more  interesting  area.  --=- 

But  a  man  should  never  leave  the  "  ta  lu  "  (the 
main  road)  in  China  if  he  would  experience  the 
minimum  of  discomfort  and  annoyance,  which  under 
best  conditions  is  considerable  to  an  irritable  man. 
As  I  sit  down  now,  on  the  very  spot  where  Margar}^ 
of  the  British  Consular  Service,  was  murdered  in 
1875,  I^regret  that  I  have  sacrificed  a  good  deal  to 
secure  most  of  the  photographs  which  decorate'this 
section  of  my  book.  No  one,  not  even  my  mihtary 
escort,  knows  the  way,  and  is  being  sworn  at  by  my 
men  therefor.  How  I  am  to  reach  Man  Hsien,  across 
the  river  Taping,  I  do  not  quite  know.  Manyiien, 
so  interesting  in  history,  is  a  native  Shan-Kachino- 
Chinese  town  untouched  by  the  years — slovenly, 
dirty,  undisciplined,  immoral,  where  law  and  order 
and  civilisation  have  gained  at  best  but  a  pre- 
carious foothold,  the  most  characteristic  feature  of 
the  people  being  the  gambler's  instinct.  But  I 
remember  that  I  am  coming  into  Burma,  into  the 
real  East,  where  the  tangle  and  the  topsy-turvydomTf 
the  crooked  vision  and  the  distorted  travesty  of  the 
truth,  which  result  from  judging  the  Oriental  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  European  and  looking  at 
the  East  through  the  eyes   of    the    West,    impress 

381 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

themselves  upon  one's  mind  in  bewildering  fashion 
as  a  hopeless  problem.  Everything  is  all  at  cross 
purposes. 

However,  although  I  lost  my  way  from  Manyiien 
to  Man  Hsien,  I  got  my  photographs  of  Kachins, 
those  people  whose  appearance  is  that  they  have 
no  one  to  care  for  them  body  or  soul.  Their 
thick,  uncombed  locks,  so  long  and  lank  as  to  re- 
semble deck  swabs,  overlapped  roofwise  the  ugliest 
aboriginal  faces  I  ever  saw  in  Asia  or  America,  and 
their  eyes  under  shaggy  brows  looked  out  with 
diabolic  fire. 

So  much  information  is  to  be  obtained  from  the 
Upper  Burma  Gazetteer  about  the  Kachins  that  it  is 
needless  for  me  to  write  much  here,  especially  as  I 
can  add  nothing.     But  I  feel  I  should  like  to  say 
just    a    word    of    praise   of    the    remarkable  work 
of    the  American    Baptist   Mission,   which   has    its 
head-quarters    at     Bhamo,     among    this    tribe    in 
Burma.     At    the   time   I    arrived    in    the   city   the 
annual     festival     was     being     conducted     at     the 
Baptist    Church,    and    hundreds    of    Kachins,  who 
had    been    led  from   their  life   of   heathenism   and 
shame  and  misery  into  the  Light  of  Jesus  Christ, 
were   assembled   in   the   splendid   premises   of   this 
mission.     They  had  come  from  many  miles  around  ; 
and  to  one  who  at  previous  times  in  his  residence  in 
the    Far    East    had    written    disparagingly    about 
missionaries  and  their  work,  there  came  some  little 
.personal  shame  as  he  looked  upon  the  extremely 
|)creditable  work  of  the  American  missionaries  in  this 
(district.     Kachins  are  a  somewhat  uncivilised  and 
quarrelsome  race,  unspeakably  immoral,  and  steeped 
in  every  vice  against  which  the  Christian  missionary 
has  to  set  his  face — a  most  difficult  people  to  work 

382 


TENGYUEH    TO    BHAMO. 

among.  But  there  I  saw  scores  and  scores  of 
baptised  Christians  Hving  a  hfe  clean  and  ennobhng, 
endeavouring  honestly  to  break  away  from  their 
degrading  customs  of  centuries,  some  of  them 
exceedingly  intelligent  people. 

I  speak  of  this  because  I  feel  that  in  the  face  of 
untruthful  and  malicious  descriptions  which  in 
former  years  have  got  into  print  respecting  this  very 
mission  and  the  very  missionaries  on  this  field,  it  is 
only  fair  that  people  in  the  homeland  interested  in 
the  work  should  know  what  their  American  brethren 
are  doing  here.  I  cannot  praise  too  highly  this 
mission  and  the  enthusiastic  band  of  workers  whom 
it  was  my  pleasure  to  meet.  In  Mr.  Roberts,  the 
superintendent  of  the  field,  the  American  Baptist 
Board  have  a  man  of  wonderful  resource,  who  is  not 
only  an  ardent  Christian  evangelist  and  capable 
administrator,  but  a  gentleman  of  considerable 
business  ability  and  a  remarkable  organiser.  A 
writer  who,  passing  through  in  1894,  was  indebted 
to  Mr.  Roberts  for  many  kindnesses,  found  that  the 
only  adverse  criticism  he  could  make  of  the  missionary 
was  in  respect  to  his  knowledge  of  horses,  and  that 
was  not  very  praiseworthy.  My  experience  is  that 
in  the  whole  of  the  Far  East  there  can  be  found 
no  more  capable  pioneer  missionary,  and  his  friends 
in  America  should  pray  that  Mr,  Roberts  may  be 
spared  many  years  still  to  control  the  work  on  the 
successful  mission  field  in  which  he  has  spent  so 
much  of  his  labour  of  love  for  the  Kachins. 

Kachins  form  the  bulk  of  the  population  in  the 
extreme  north  of  Burma.  To  the  west  they  extend 
to  Assam,  and  to  the  south  into  the  Shan  States,  as 
far  even  as  latitude  20°  30'.  By  far  the  largest 
proportion  of  them  live  in  Burmese  territory,  but 

383 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

they  also  extend  into  Western  Yiin-nan,  though 
nowhere  are  they  found  farther  east  than  longi- 
tude 99°. 

Man  Hsien  is  the  last  yamen  place  before  reaching 
the  British  border.  I  crossed  the  river  Taping  from 
Manyiien,  being  shown  the  road  by  a  Burmese 
member  of  the  Buddhistic  yellow  cloth,  who  was 
most  pressing  that  I  should  stay  with  him  for  a  few 
days.  Again  did  I  get  a  fright  that  my  manuscript 
would  never  get  into  print,  for  my  pony  Rusty, 
probably  cognisant  of  the  fact  that  he  too  was 
finishing  his  long  tramp,  nearly  stamped  the  bottom  of 
the  boat  out,  and  threatened  to  send  us  down  by  river 
past  Bhamo  quicker  than  our  arrival  was  scheduled. 

The  large  official  paper  given  to  one's  military 
escort  from  point  to  point  was  here  produced  for  the 
last  time,  and  great  ado  was  made  about  me.  Reading 
this  document  aloud  from  the  top  of  the  steps,  when 
he  came  to  my  name  the  mandarin  bowed  very  low, 
called  me  Ding  Daren*  (a  sign  of  highest  respect), 
asked  if  I  would  exchange  cards,  and  then  lapsed 
unconsciously  into  profuse  congratulation  to  myself 
that  I  should  have  been  born  an  Englishman.  So 
far  as|he  knew,  I  could  be  assured  that  the  existing 
relations  between  the  administrative  bodies  of  his 
contemptible  country  and  my  own  royal  land  were 
of  a  nature  so  felicitously  mutual  and  peaceful — in 
fact,  both  Governments  saw  eye  to  eye  in  regard  to 
international  affairs  in  Far  Western  China — that  he 
felt  sure  that  I  should  arrive  at  the  bridge  leading 
into^Burma  without  personal  harm.  He  then,  with 
a  colossal  bow  to  myself  and  a  gentle  wave  of  his 
three-inch  finger-nail,  handed  me  over  with  pungent 
emphasis  of  speech  to  the  keeping  of  a  Chinaman 

*i.e.  Great  Man.     "  Ding  "  is  my  Chinese  name. 
384 


A   viavket  scene  not  far  from  Hsiao  Snigai. 
Slians  and  others. 


Burmese  and  Kachins  at  the  annual  festival,  1910,  of  the 
American  Baptist  Mission  in  Burma. 


Kachins  of  Upper  Burma. 
Their  solid  silver  necklaces  constitute  the  family  bank. 


Kachins  of  Upper  Burma. 


TENGYUEH    TO    BHAMO. 

and  a  Shan,  who  with  a  keen  sense  of  favours  to  come 
were  to  form  my  escort  to  Burma's  border. 

A  low  grunt  of  unrestrained  approval  came  from 
the  multitude.  The  underlings — Chino-Kachino- 
Burmo-Shan  people — who  ran  about  in  a  little  of 
each  of  the  clothing  characteristic  of  the  four  said 
races,  were  all  busy  in  their  endeavours  to  extricate 
from  me  a  few  cash  apiece  by  doing  all  and  more 
than  was  necessary. 

Then  the  great  man  rose.  He  condescended  to 
depart.  He  passed  from  the  threshold,  turned, 
paused,  bowed,  turned  again,  went  down  the  steps, 
bowed  again — a  long  curving  bow,  which  nearly 
sent  him  to  the  ground — and  then  continued  with  a 
light  heart  towards  that  loveliest  land  of  the  East. 
My  men  exhibited  no  emotion.  That  they  were 
coming  into  British  territory  was  of  no  concern  to 
them  ;  they  had  come  from  far  away  in  the 
interior,  and  were  the  greenest  of  the  green,  the 
rawest  of  the  raw. 

But  soon  I  passed  over  a  small  bridge,  a  spot  where 
two  great  empires  meet.     I  was  in  Burma. 

•f!  »(•  !p  5f»  S|C 

So  I  have  crossed  from  one  end  of  China  to  the  ! 
other.    I  entered  China  on  March  4th,  1909  ;   I  came 
out  on  February  14th,  1910. 

I  had  come  to  see  how  far  the  modern  spirit  had 
penetrated  into  the  hidden  recesses  of  the  Chinese 
Empire.  One  may  be  little  given  to  philosophising, 
and  possess  but  scanty  skill  in  putting  into  words 
the  conclusions  which  form  themselves  in  one's 
mind,  but  it  is  impossible  to  cross  China  entirely 
unobservant.  One  must  begin,  no  matter  how 
dimly,  to  perceive  something  of  the  causes  which 

385 
26 


ACROSS   CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

are  at  work.  By  the  incoming  of  the  European  to 
inland  China  a  transformation  is  being  wrought,  not 
the  natural  growth  of  a  gradual  evolution,  itself  the 
result  of  propulsion  from  within,  but  produced,  on 
the  contrary,  by  artificial  means,  in  bitter  conflict 
with  inherent  instincts,  inherited  traditions,  innate 
tendencies,  characteristics,  and  genius,  racial  and 
individual.  In  the  eyes  of  the  Chinaman  of  the 
old  school  these  changes  in  the  habit  of  life  infinitely 
old  are  improving  nothing  and  ruining  much — all  is 
empty,  vapid,  useless  to  God  and  man.  The  tawdry 
shell,  the  valueless  husk,  of  ancient  Chinese  life  is 
here  still,  remains  untouched  in  many  places,  as  will 
have  been  seen  in  previous  chapters  ;  but  the  soul 
within  is  steadily  and  surely,  if  slowly,  undergoing 
a  process  of  final  atrophy.  But  yet  the  proper 
opening-up  of  the  country  by  internal  reform  and  not 
by  external  pressure  has  as  yet  hardly  commenced 
in  immense  areas  of  the  Empire  far  removed  from 
the  imperial  city  of  Peking.  And  the  mere  fact 
that  the  Chinese  propose  such  an  absurd  programme 
as  that  which  plans  the  building  of  all  their  railways 
without  the  aid  of  foreign  capital  is  sufficient  to 
react  in  an  unwholesome  manner  economically.*  f 
I  cannot  but  admit  that,  whilst  in  most  parts  of 
my  journey  there  are  distinct  traces  of  reform — I 

*  I  believe  personally  that  the  main  object  of  the  Yiin-nan. 
provincial  government  in  employing  two  American  engineers, 
who  at  the  present  moment  (August,  19  lo)  are  surveying  a  route 
from  Yiin-nan-fu  to  the  Yangtze,  is  merely  official  bluff.  It  is 
preferable  to  pay  two  men  a  monthly  stipend  if  the  official 
"  face  "  can  be  preserved  and  the  Chinese  dogged  official  pro- 
crastination be  maintained,  rather  than  to  allow  foreigners  tO' 
come  in  still  farther. 

■j-  This  was  of  course  written  long  before  the  Four  Nations 
Loan  was  signed,  and  Tuan  Fang  appointed  Director  General  of 
the  Railways  in  May,  191 1.  We  should  now  see  a  speedy- 
reformation  of  Railway  matters  in  China  if  Tuan  is  given  aa 
absolutely  free  hand. — E.  J.  D. 

386 


TENGYUEH   TO    BHAMO. 

speak,  of  course,  of  the  outlying  parts  of  China — 
and  some  very  striking  traces  too,  and  a  real  longing 
on  the  part  of  far-seeing  officials  to  escape  from  a 
humiliating  international  position,  it  is  distinctly 
apparent  that  in  everything  which  concerns  Europe 
and  the  Western  world  the  people  and  the  officials 
as  a  whole  are  of  one  mind  in  the  methods  of  pro- 
crastination which  are  so  dear  to  the  heart  of  the 
Celestial,  and  that  peculiar  opposition  to  Europeanism 
which  has  marked  the  real  East  since  the  beginning 
of  modem  history. 

And  now  lovely,  lovely  Burma ! 

I  had  not  been  in  Burma  two  minutes  before  the 
very  box  containing  the  clothes  into  which  I  must 
change  before  I  could  enter  into  the  social  life  of 
Bhamo  swung  from  the  broken  pole  of  one  of  my 
coolies,  and  rolled  rapidly  towards  the  river.  It 
was  recovered  after  great  trouble. 

Thick  jungle  land  lay  out  before  me,  fleecy  clouds 
in  the  dense  blue  sky  hung  lazily  over  the  green  hills, 
the  heavy  air  was  pregnant  with  that  delicious  ease 
known  only  in  the  tropics — all  was  still  and  sweet. 
The  river  flowed  grandly  from  the  interior  through 
magnificent  forest  country,  receiving  on  either  shore 
the  frequent  tribute  of  other  minor  streams,  and  its 
banks  were  marvellous  cliffs  of  jungle — tangles  of 
giant  trees  on  crowding  underwood,  clinging  vine 
and  festooning  parasite — rising  sheer  from  the 
water's  brink.  Now  long  clusters  of  villages,  deep 
in  the  shade  of  palm  and  fruit  trees  ;  now  wide 
expanses  of  grass-grown  meadow,  where  the  grazing 
grounds  dip  to  the  river,  and  where  the  only 
echoes  of  China  are  the  resting  pack-horse  caravans — 
the  banks  cut   into   huge   trampled   clefts   by  the 

387 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

passage  of  the  kine  trooping  down  to  drink.  Occa- 
sional wooded  islands  broke  the  monotony  of  the 
river,  and  were  just  discernible  from  the  magnificent 
English  roads  which  skirted  the  hills  high  up  from 
the  river,  and  yellow  sandspits  and  big  wedges  of 
granite  and  rock  ran  far  out  into  its  uneven  course. 
By  day  the  joyous  Burma  sun  smiled  upon  all,  and 
at  midday  poured  its  merciless  heat  down  upon  all 
mankind,  unheeding  the  weary  wanderer  whose 
tramp  was  now  near  done.  At  night  the  tropical 
moon  turned  all  this  riverine  world  to  the  likeness 
of  a  very  fairyland.  Lying  in  a  long  chair  in  the 
dak  bungalows  one  drank  in  the  scenes  which 
succeeded  one  another  in  bewildering  succession- 
and  felt  himself  thrilled  by  an  almost  fierce  appre- 

r  ciation  of  eastern  beauty.  It  was  good  to  meet 
again  an  Englishman,  a  sturdy,  firm-featured 
Englishman,  whose  love  of  the  East,  like  mine  own, 
was  a  veritable  obsession.  The  sun  glare  of  the 
tropics  had  parched  the  colour  out  of  our  white 
skin,  and  despite  the  fact  that  malaria  came  back 
again  here  to  taunt  me,  yet  I  was  again  in  the 
East  that  I  loved,  that  had  scarred  and  marked  me 
ere  my  time  mayhap.     And  yet  I,  with  many  such 

I  of  my  own  countrymen,  despite  her  rough  handling, 

^_worship  her. 

*  *  *  *  * 

In'three  days  I  was  in  Bhamo. 

I  then  returned  into  China,  where    I   am   living 
indefinitely. 

End  of  Book  IL 
388 


APPENDICES 


< 

X 

Q 

w 
< 


u 

CO 

a 


CD 


O 


«5 


cq 


I 


O     bo 

S 

o  -a; 

i  i 

O 


■<£ 


I 
I 


to 


« 


>  >  >  > 

U<  V-4  V-i  Vi 

(U  <U  <U  D 

CO  cn  CD  CO 

a3  rt  rt  rt 

s  :^  s  s 

o  o  o  u 

G  G  C  C 

<U  <U  (V  (D 

!_,  v-i  wi  ;-! 

U-i  l^  Ui  i2^ 


"So 

o 

&*  "=! 

d     o 

•  •-I     a: 
CO   C/5 


(>1     Tt-    H 


fe 


I 

H 


O  <D  <U  4)  4) 

O  O  o  O  O 

•^  '5^  •>  ■>  V 

i-,  U  U  ^  *-i 

(U  <L)  QJ  D  <U 

CO  CO  CO  CO  CO 

i_i  ;-(  i_i  Ih  Vi 

<u  o)  Qj  a>  (u 

>  >  >  >  > 

S  (5  p5  S  f2 


(1h 

(—1 

H 

W 
N 
H 

O 

^5 

^    :   .    :   :   : 

w 

o     :    :    :    :    : 

^  n       •!£  oil 


•  ^  W 


13 


Co     t— I 


^3 


rt 


<u    bo 


C      (-1      (-!      N      03 

^    S    3    ^  ^ 


05  ffi  ffi  O)  h4 


(-N  o   in  tN.  ON 

H      H      M      H 


391 


I 


d 
O 

u 

> 


w 
o 

Pi 
o 
o 

w 

H 

o 
p 

o 

Ph 
t— I 

P^ 

H 

W 

H 
O 

< 
w 

Ph 
PL, 

p 


S 


Td 


o 
O 

03 


O 

O 


03 

9"  'c" 

H 

03     H-l 

c 

9    ?^ 

en 

f^    c3 

X 

■fi  ^ 

-t3 

'S'^ 

<s3 

Tl 

^  ^ 

bx) 

Ph 

a;  :s 

i-i 

o3 

W)      Ph 

o 
O 

Pi 

V, 

'Ph 
o3 

S-H 

r-| 

c3    S^ 

o 

s 

^    ^ 

-M 

-'-'        fn 

vh 

O      en 

in 

cn    ■'Ti 

^J 

O     oj 

c^ 

rt     1^ 

o 

O  P^ 

Ph 

fin    ffi 

l^ 

T3    _ 
"Ph  4;  ^ 

f2   51^;  EJ 


'Ph 

C 

03 


o 

p 


d 
o3 
tr> 

'a, 

l-H     [^ 

1-1      Ph 
O     o3 


H  C 


^ 


oJ 

1     "^ 

o 

fsf 

"cj     tuo    ^ 

o3      ' 

f-^ 

1     2 

^    c    o 

v(L) 

1        rd 

bjO  P     V 

bjo 

d 

X 

c  ) 

tuO 

o 
-t-j 

-^ 
p 

^ 

03 

o 

o 
j:3 

»^    H    W 

dn 

W 

>H 

^ 

H 

O 

o 

p, 

s 

c 


■pL 

OJ 

O 


o3 
;-> 
P-i 


m  ffl^ 


o    o 
o   ^ 


o 

P 


H      ri 


M    fOTj-mo    i>sOo    c^o    M    H    01    en  ^  xn  \0    t^ 


P. 


392 


13 

z 

O 

o 

o 

tUO 

• 

J3 

.                           t«  'H 

o 

a 

c   s 

c 

o 

'                                  c  -^    i 

1 

fcio 

s 

•-I  __     1 

1 

s 

T30T30'0'T3Cb 

»-^    rr-J 
r— 1       'O 

o 

X) 

.t;         O      -Td       T3 

rt 

rf     O     rt     oj 

< 

m  o  m  o  m  PQ  S 

m 

fe  o  m  PQ 

> 

< 

M 

W 

w 

rn 

X 

•< 

§uTi[iT3Av  japuaj  spBOJ  pooS  aq:).  r^nq   '^Jn:^•Bu 
Xiiiq  puB  2ui:^'e[npun  ub  jo  si  Qjaq  Aj:^uno3  aqx 


O 


>> 

t 


Td 


03 

0) 

-^  -^  ^ 

O)      OJ    Td 

>      >      <U      O      (U 

rt  J5  >  ^  > 

(Hh     Ph    55      <^      5 
"Td    'T3      .  -   Td      ,  -   . 

o    o  .in    o  .h!  Id 

O     O     c3     O     03     cj 

O  O  ttH  O  fe  pq 


Oh 

+-> 

a3 

o 


o3 

nd' 
o 
o 

^^ 

'oj  IS 
-t->  "^ 

o3        r 

Td      0 
O      O 


-t-J      -M 

o3     o3 
oj     a; 


a;    § 

o 

^  .S  • 


O       ^     g 


Q) 

<u 

^ 

■^ 

tT 

Td 

oi 

Oj 

pq 

pq 

■  '  ""     oi 


^   bo's 
03      '■'    '^ 


6^ 


O     O     lO   lO    O     lO    o 
00     01     O     t^  00     C^    01 


O    lO  o    o    o 

C7^   lO    t^    t^    Tf 


H 

O 

< 

z 

1  - 

2; 

1     , 

13 

<; 

^ 

o 

C4 

o 

N 

w 
So 


2;    ^ 


Q  >^  ^  K^  H-1  ^q  CO 


tH     p 


<    W    [i,    H    r-l 


O 

6 


w 

in    o 


'-(3       O 


o 

<  ^ 

u  u 

<  <: 


^ 


?1^ 

< 

I 

O 
< 


h^  -^  ^  ^  ^  ^-\  m        Pi;p:^<ffi[i^HKq 


H    oi    roTtmo    t^oo 

■  I      H      H      H      H      H      H 


O    ^ 
*^       Oh 


On   O     H     01     CO    -^   to 
H     01     01     01     01     01     M 


393 


i             1 
o 

": 

i 

•  -  •       -          1 

o 

.  1 

z, 

^ 

Xi    c 

2 

-f-> 

C       . 

-MO 

P 

< 

o           •    52  S 

o  n3 

c3 

p 

o        ns    S 

en     o 

XJ          13           kS 
rt            oj           S 

c 

tuO          rt     c 

rO 

03 

s 

o 
u 
o 

<; 

t3 
o 

^         XI    "^   T3 

-xj  .h:  TJ   ^  S  •■^ 

,£3            ^    13    ^ 
i^      .     i>.  i^    ^ 

o 

rt     03     d     D     "     C 

^£ 

dJ 

oj     rt     dj     C     ^ 

O 

fq  fa  pq  >  S  p 

> 

>  pq  >  ;d 

S«  • 

.    o 

o         o    o    o 

o 

o    o    o    o 

o  >  < 

V,    o 

O       1      O     O     O       1 

1 

o 

o    o    o    >n 

sow 

S^    o 

O}    1     <>•  o^  -^    1 

CO 

Tj-   ro  (»    N 

w  pa  c/) 

H           ro   IN,  O 

1 

CTN 

rf  vo'  vd"     IN. 

, 

:    :  >, 

<u 

Q 
< 
O 

b 
O 

o 

>> 

^  ^  t;   •  ^ 

TS   TJ   ^          -^ 

3 

.s 

.    »-. 

•      •    3 
_o 

tuO    b£)    ^ 

;c  ;c  .tj 
'■P  '-fj  "^ 

H 

1^    o    >    >,  "t! 

>  o  rt  x:^  ^ 

t 

ri 
£ 

3 

13   T3     3     o 

Q 

IS 

rt    tuo  a,  rs    cu 

<D 

'C 

d 

rt     ol   42     o 

Z 

o 
(J 

o 

o 

O 

ri     oj     O     ol     O 

o 

»— ( 

<u    <u    o    <u 

o 

m  fa  o  w  o 

O 

>  >  O  > 

o  ^ 

o 

O     O     O     O     O      1 

o 

o 

o   o   o   o 

6*J 

VO 

VO      t>»    tN  v£)      O        1 

t^ 

ro 

•^    tN    OWO 

iz; 

M 

2 

o 

z 

• 

g 

•    •    •     • 

< 

, 

•— > 

o 

1 

o 

e  z   :  ^  1 

^  2;  <      2 

"^  <  ^  <  X 

1-1      T       T       Q      < 

w 
6 

Q 

1 

>^ 

W 

1 

2:  <  < 

S 1 1  i 

CL, 

w 

►^    <    <    7    I-; 

■< 

<: 

!->  «    o    t> 

Q  O  Q  Q  P  Q 

H 

Q 

Q  >^  ffi  Q 

^ 
^ 

:    :  ^   :  ^ 
5      li 

• 

• 

:    :    :  ;d 
fa 

(4 
u 

1^ 

:    :  "^   :  ® 

; 

;    •  iz; 

z. 

■     ■   o     ■   p 

1^ 

o 

5^         «  < 

0. 
g 

o 

H 

i 

< 

K 

1 
O 

w 
H 

(1,    1    5  ►-  o 
i  <  S  ^  "'- 

►-J     5     !^     W      ' 
JL,     ^     «     U     O    +J 
1       1      r)     <     1/5 

o  H  H  ^  U  (^ 

W 

6 

< 

H 

in 

H 

P    K    K  U 
V     A     w      1 

5  o  ^  ;z; 
«   i   o  o 
W  >^  ffi  H 

vO 

tX  00     CTs    O     H     N 

ro 

rf 

»0  vO     tN  00 

.     M 

N     C^     01     CO 

O 

< 

O    —1 

Q 

2^'G 

'       •       -       -     b      - 

^ 

^ 

•.               -s               •«               •. 

'-'    Ch 

-      -      ~      -    oS 

* 

* 

■t         •«         A         A 

< 

1^ 

1 

o 

(/) 

2 

Ui 

•♦-> 

W) 

G 

3 

rt 

13 

V-i 

<u 

>, 

Uh 

u 

1 

-»-> 

C) 

d 

(U 

3 

Ui 

o 

^ 

o 

^ 

bX) 

1 

C 

nl 

13 

3 

c; 

o 
l-l 

o 

H 

X! 

a 

■♦-' 

O 

(L» 

Tl 

<u 

CO 

13 

a 

o 

1 

13 
d 

O 

Xi 

3 

C 

03 

oJ 

3 

Ul 

(U 

.9-. 

13 

.c! 

to 

-*-i 

73 

>> 

t-i 

Ol 

o 

H 

> 

13 

rri 

(U 

C 

H 

C/J 

^ 

ro 

t/5 

t' 

03 

■n 

3 

rt 

m 

3 

rt 

c 

s 

oJ 

•—> 

1 

Tl 

c 

o 

c 

:3 

-fj 

c3 

>^ 

r?> 

b 

O 

o 

-i-> 

CJN 

-♦-> 

H 

«5 

CO 

w 
>, 

> 

>1 

13 

03 

a 

. 

hf, 

S 

s 

C 

6 

13 

3 

o 

C! 

o 

Ul 

0) 

ri 

fa 

^ 

o 

^ 

Vi 

c> 

^ 

PJ 

394 


i. 

■qj 

M 

m 

o 

H 

03 
O 

O 

o 

o 

cJ 

03 
> 

n3 
o 

Q 

o 

o 

ts 

o 

13 

C 

-M 

-t-> 

.    o 

O 

I 

tl£) 

tuO 

03 

biO 

o3 

o3 

o3 

1     1 

c 

'C 

CJ     bfl 

1 

o 

1 

^ 

^ 

^ 

^ 

^ 

0) 

X) 

1    1 

_a) 

Pi 

1 

T3 

TI 

Til 

o 

'a3 

CJ 

Tf 

■§1 

-6 

O 

13" 

o 

'cS 

"rt 

<u 

"3 

CU 

3 

03 

X 

o3 

a3 

O 

o3 

< 

fo 

fe  > 

fe 

> 

W 

W 

pq 

fe  m 

o 

m 

K   «     ■ 

o 

o 

o 

o 

O 

o 

o 

o 

c 

O 

o 

o 

O  >  < 

1;i    1 

o 

o 

o 

o 

O 

o 

1      1 

o 

o 

c 

O 

o 

1 

vo 

w   O   W 

^    ' 

oo 

»o 

t^ 

M 

O 

'^ 

1     1 

oo  00 

lO    H 

CO 

H 

w  m  cn 

(>. 

oo" 

VO 

t^  VO 

vO" 

vo" 

vo" 

»n  o 

m:5~ 

1 

o~ 

Wl 

t3 

>. 

• 

• 

G 

a3 

• 

03 

^ 

^ 

Q 

P3 

+-> 

• 

• 

■< 
O 

bjo 
C 

• 

• 

-M 

rt 
^ 

• 

• 

o 

A 

^ 

^ 

CT3 

t-i 

O 

2 

1 

13 

1  1 

15 

+-« 
o 

1 

13 

> 

a3 

O 

-f-> 

>i 

>> 

>^ 

S 

O) 

<u 

rt 

&. 

H 

c3     . 

^ 

Ph 

;~"{ 

^^ 

15 

> 

-(-" 

T, 

-»-> 

i.      i5 

0)     y) 

;5 

15 

iS 

15 

> 

o3 

o3 

"♦-J 

> 

"l-l 

1-4 

i     o 

„ 

13 

T?" 

Tf 

tJ 

TS 

'd 

^ 

13 

^ 

o 

O     S 

T3 

O 

O 

O 

o 

Oh 

o 

o 

(- 

V-i 

o 

l-< 

03 

o 

o 

O 

o 

o 

o 

'n 

'rt 

o 

"c3 

O 

pq 

O  O  O  O 

O  O 

fe  fe  o 

fn 

lb 
o  ^ 

I 

o 

o 

o 

in 

»n 

o 

!      1 

o 

o 

m  o 

o 

I 

o 

d>^ 

1 

o 

c^ 

o 

oo 

a^ 

t>s 

1      1 

t~N 

t^ 

l:^  oo 

o 

1 

c^ 

Iz; 

M 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•z 

• 

2 

O 

o 

1 

o 

1 

w 
w 

•— > 

w 
o 

6 

I 

< 

< 
w 

o 
o 

< 
O 

o 

W 
o 

6 

:z; 
< 

1      1 

o 

1— > 

Q 

1 

o 

s 

1 

o 

< 
> 

6 

<! 

c 

to 

N 

Q 

w 

00 

K 

6 

us 
Q 

<: 

1 

to 

1 

o 

o 
3 

w 

D 

C/3 

Q 

>A 

o  ;>H 

u 

> 

<  h-i 

hJ 

c/^ 

O 

H 

o 

2 

1 

o 

; 

• 

IE 

llt( 

o 

e 

^ 

Z 
< 

^    : 

Si    : 
w 

w 
c75 

w 

6 

03 

to 

1 

0 

I— « 

a, 
o 

H 

o 
o 

o 

u 

1 

w 

< 

o 

^; 
o 

< 
6 

< 

o 

o 

;z; 
<; 

1 
< 

73 

d 
CO, 

-*->      -4-1 
CO       Crt 

(U      ID 

u 

1 

< 

6 

(/5 

w 

o 

to 

W 
N 
H 

1 

W 

13 
C 

4-) 

0) 

o 

on 

K 
1 
ID 

CJ 

H 

U 

hJ 

w  ;>^ 

u 

>H 

^  <A 

<  h4 

^ 

« 

c^ 

CO 

"^ 

in  vo 

t^  00 

ON    o 

H 

N 

fO  -^ 

in 

o 

IN. 

H 

Q 

M 

M 

H 

H 

H 

M 

H 

H 

< 

Q 

M 

; 

: 

: 

: 

: 

: 

;      ; 

; 

: 

: 

: 

: 

; 

; 

•— > 

395 


i. 

§; 

r-« 

1 

o 

H 

'O 

1-4 

.  t:^ 

d,    0) 

<r*. 

o 

o 

K^       dJ 

(U     o 

t3 

0 

Q 

O 

a 
o 
u 
(J 

n:: 

o  ti 

T 

1 

1 

o 
b£) 

-4-> 

1  ^  a 

3     O 
o     >> 

s-3 

I 

t3 

o 

no 
O 

Id 
0 

rt 

cj     X 

cj 

'rt 

ri     o 

rt 

o 

o 

OJ 

^ 

0 

< 

fq 

te  w 

pq 

P4 

C>0 

PQ  S 

fn 

PQ  O  O  > 

0 

£«  • 

.    c 

O     O 

o 

o 

o 

o 

o    o 

o 

o 

o 

o 

c 

0 

o  >  < 

tl    c 

o    o 

c 

o 

1 

>o 

o 

1     m  lo 

o 

1     o 

in 

o 

c 

0 

Sow 

J)     c 

-<*;  N 

OC 

o 

1 

t^ 

c^ 

1     °    "i. 

■^ 

<M 

(M^ 

oo 

OJ 

in 

<u 

1                  K 

_ 

H-.    m:; 

~  vo     JN.'.C 

-  vo" 

MD 

MD 

lo  in 

IN. 

lO 

in 

^ 

»>» 

in 

^ 

. 

. 

•        • 

rf 

•      • 

• 

to 

o 

d 

•  .s 

Td 

• 

<D 

bjO 

tuO 

• 

■^ 

'   'c3 

lU 

•           • 

cti 

c 

• 

o 

o 
2 

be 

1 

p. 

1      ^- 

en 

1   <^ 

pi 
o 

'3 

-♦-' 

H-H 

bp 
0 

o 

> 

'3 

O 

>< 

o    o 
o    o 

^ 

^ 

o 
o 

73 
O 
O 

t: 

0 

0 

5 

^    rt 

'■^ 

tJjO    tUD 

^ 

'x, 

bfi 

tuO 

rt 

bx) 

o 

■13 

ic 

M-H 

Ti 

'O 

>>  >^ 

tS 

tS 

^ 

^ 

X3 

^ 

o 

\- 

O    TJ 

X 

"  13 

o 

o 

T^  TI 

o 

o 

Tl! 

Tl 

V- 

'H 

'c^ 

O     ri 

a: 

nJ 

o 

o 

"rt    'rf 

o 

o 

'rt 

■3 

i 

'3 

fi 

O   ffl 

PC 

fQ 

O 

O 

fo  fe 

o 

O  fiK  te 

> 

^i. 

O    ^ 

c 

in  o 

1/ 

■>  o 

1 

o 

o 

1    o   o 

o 

I    <=> 

in 

in 

in 

in 

6^ 

VC 

<0     (^  v£ 

CO 

1 

VO 

^ 

1       CTn^ 

t^ 

1      lO 

Ov 

C^vC 

t^ 

% 

o 

•     • 

• 

• 

• 

•     • 

• 

p 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Ph 

• 

< 

■ 

0 

O   ^ 

o 

fin 

< 

c 
c 

o    ^ 

p  <« 
1     PL, 

CO    P-i 

< 

< 
o 

'A 

1 

o 

Q 

< 
I—, 

< 

1  g  - 

Q     ^ 
o    < 

Ah 

o 

o 

D 
Q 

0 
< 

C 

< 

cy 

< 

< 

0 
0 

:3 

>— 

^ 

w 

P   P 

ffi     >H 

H 

o 

P 

>^ 

• 

^   : 

^ 

^ 

^ 

U 

: 

^ 

5^ 

4< 

^  ^ 

; 

Bill 

6 

Cm 

t 

f     . 

w? 

"(^     . 

6 

'pL, 

< 

CO        1 

•K 

a- 
o 

H 
CO 

< 

c 

6 
<  o 

<  % 

m  Ph 

2 

< 

1 

< 
o 
'A 

PI 
co_ 

-M 

ID 

O 
K 
o 

o 
< 

p 
fa 

in 
<; 

6    • 
•a 

^  6  < 

T3   :z; 

tn     fe- 
ll;   > 

H 

1 
p 

0 

< 

CO 

c 

< 

< 

12 

< 

a 
0 

6 
2; 

t— 

> 

K  (^ 

u 

H 

p^;  ffi  >^ 

H  P^  ffi 

CJ 

h 

t3 

OC 

)    cy^  o 

H 

(s 

CO 

Tl- 

lO  O     1>N  CO 

o\ 

O      M 

H 

M 

CO 

^4- 

.      H 

H      Cs| 

cs 

1     (M 

c^ 

CJ 

CM 

CSI     M     (M 

0\ 

CO    CO 

H 

o 

H 

H      C 

1 

,6 

- 

; 

-■ 

396 


2 

4. 

CO 

i>   fe   s 

O 
H 

'c7 

^  ^  o 

t/5  .::h 

MMO; 

1      1 

c 

1i    o    <^     \ 

S-i      ',-1      -■• 

1 

o 
o 

(J 

•4- 

-i^ 

.!-  TJ  t:  -^  t:5    0 

<1 

§L 

cq  c>^ 

CQ  pq 

fe  pq  W  Q  W 

£«  . 

c 

o    o 

o 

0000 

o  >  < 

V-.     1      1 

c 

O     t^     1 

o     1 

1 

1     m   0    in  in 

"  o  w 

0) 

ro           M     ro     1 

ro 

1 

1      <>.   01^  vo    ro 

M  pa  c/} 

^     '      ' 

<N.           o6~    lO 

>s              1 

in 

c<r    H 

p 

bjo    . 

oJ 

<: 

.s  • 

. 

0 

o 

Ik 

'-M 

n3        • 

>     > 

O 

r-| 

1       w 

;?; 

'^                   1 

^^ 

1 

^ 

1            1 

QJ                 ' 

^               C 

o 

.      ^1 

Til  Th 

H 

_> 

■3  '3 

(U                        CD 

Q 

Hh      H— t 

Z 

i^ 

15  ^. 

r^"     ^"^ 

^-                       PI 

O 

~       b^ 

tuo  bb 

■"d              ^ 

U 

TT 

:3    ^3 

0              rt 

K 

CU      O 

0    0 

0             S 

0      ^-^^L^ 

p: 

>  o 

«  C^ 

o    . 

sapiu 

h-l 

1      1 

o 

O     lO     1 

0    0 

1 

^  .S    -§"3    S^ 

6hJ 

1      1 

c 

^          (M   00      1 

c^  00 

1 

^ 

H 

•xojddv 

~ 

:    ; 

:    : 

— 

;?; 

o 

o 

iz; 

•         • 

•    • 

H 

< 

• 

• 

J  <; 

w 

to 
o 

I    ! 

u 
< 

c 

9  w 

p  0 

1 

Mill 

Oi 

;^ 

1    z 

IS    ;z: 

p^ 

<1 

Q  H 

<  < 

"i 

■ 

U    :    \    :    : 

O 

< 

t 

I 

•    0 
1^  0   < 

>-> 

o 
z 

o 

H 
C/2 

o    a; 

u 

1 
<! 

O 

;z; 

<     W     <i^ 

w   0 

w   K   6 
H  0  :z 

fc   i   < 

PI 

pi 

en 

0) 

g  ^  ?  p  ^ 

l-l     -^     0       1 

CO   w   ^   0  0 

0      tx      ffi      01    "^ 
<     g     g     H    < 

.C/5      <      ^i      <     X 

^   ^ 

< 

H  H  C^ 

^  0 

p^  W  ^  p,  ^  pq 

»0  VO 

^ 

00    a*  o 

M     M 

ro 

T}-  in  vo    t>s  00 

H 

H      H 

H 

H      H      H      H      H 

H 

< 

6 

H 

: 

13 


^ 

;_, 

VO 

^H 

C) 

CN| 

^ 

P! 

Uj 

T3 

C 
c3 

OJ 

U2 

d 

a  7 

P) 

0 

-M 

'  * 

OJ 

P! 
0 

0 

Q 

Vh 

rt 

S 

0 

(Ti 

13 

> 

Pi 

(LI 
> 

dJ 

CJ 

rt 

n 

rt 

>. 

+-' 

h-l 

_^ 

4-i 

bf) 

1) 

c3 

^ 

r^ 

;-i 

1 
P! 

Pl 

0 
g 
3 

^ 
^ 

,13 

biO 

^ 

en 

0 

0 

0 

V-i 

fcuo 

'cj 

CJ 
CTj 

0 

> 

rt 

Ti 

H 

1-1 

W 

a 
en 

0 

0 

^ 

•Tj 

en 

Q^ 

r^J 

■^ 

'Td 

Ti 

a 

Pl 

CTJ 

i-i 

0 

aJ 

> 

a 

1) 

l-H 

0 

J 

> 

-M 

T3 
1) 

S-H 

0 

5 

JJ 

-M 

0) 

> 

> 

PJ 

a; 

0 

cn 

0 

>i 

d 

1— 1 

r^ 

0" 

P! 

C 

M 

fTl 

rt 

a^ 

bo 

,r-' 

H 

OJ 

CO 

T3 
P 

1^1 

a; 

pi 

V) 

0 

P3 

0 
■73 

pi 

-M 

S-i 

n) 

.^ 

n 

ri-l 

Pl 

a; 

1— 1 

Pl 

^ 

p: 

PI 

0) 

0 

0 

:pi 

w-i 

ri 

M 

>^ 

03 

0^ 

ri 

H 

M— ( 

r' 

tuO 

0 

n 

ol 

^ 

-t-j 

0 

no 

l-i 

C 

CJN 

ol 

Oi 

T3 

1-1 

n5 

PI 

PI 

a 

CO 

< 

CU 

0 

(/I 

M 

PI 

fTl 

C3> 

0 

flj 

H 

397 


a 


^ 

w 

d 

> 

H 

0^ 

<: 

H 

« 

H 

Q 

2; 

<j 

CO 

P^ 

OS 

o 

O 

a> 

ffi 

H 

H 

o 

l:^ 

g 

<: 

S 

t3 

fe 

P 

o 

in 

t— » 

C/) 

Ph 

O 

'i^ 

>* 

(/) 

S 
o 

(X 


o 
o 

CO 


03 
O 


o 


a 

^ 

c 

^ 

'a 

l-c 

a 

E3 

rt 

O 

T) 

+-> 

d 

i-i 

c3 

<u 

bO 

s 

C 

rt 

i5 

> 

<L) 

o 

-M 

"rt 

tn 

^ 

4-) 

c 

v^ 

TJ 

0) 

2. 

0) 

c 

_> 

rt 

cr« 

<u 

'l-l 

1^ 

(fl 

<u 

^ 

>. 

> 

3 

fQ 

o 

CO 

,d   «j 

-d  T) 

be   S 

C    oj 

3    2 

rt    «? 

P  -c 

-t->    *^ 

J4   o 

(X  a 

O     rt 

s  > 

J* 

»-i   rC 

(-. 

a,  o 

^  '-' 

c   c 

-M 

"5    "S 

i   c 

$fi  ^ 

corner  of  Yiii 
led  with  mou 

0)    .^ 

A 

s^ 

•» 

olies,  somet 
bedding, 
as  pleasure. 

c  13 

in 

.756 

easter 
I  trav 

CO 

^      1              L 

rt   .X^ 

-^    E^ 

bD  <u    ;>^ 

II 

s-i      (L> 

tm     ll     r^ 

0  s 

3  2  s 

:: 

5    t-H    0 

ii  0 

rt     v^   ^ 

c  ^ 

>.   S     ^ 

" 

>> 

iding  pon 
man  to 
traveller 

o 

00 

H 

nsurveyed 
had  ever 

en  with  r 
with  one 
n  any  lay 

4-" 

"^  'oj 

lU     *+?       «* 

s  °  .s 

s  s 

^"  S)  ^ 

HH   a, 

0  ^    a> 

0   0 

0     '^     -M 

u 

^  f7^ 

0    >,  cf 

'^    u 

J?.  •-  ^ 

"5    §    0 

kinds 
pack-; 
more 

398 


APPENDIX    B. 


VAGARIES    OF    CHINESE    WEIGHTS    AND 
MEASURES. 

To  cite  full  details  of  all  the  vagaries  of  the  weights  and 
measures  of  China,  to  indicate  even  in  some  slight 
degree  the  variability  of  what  are  held  to  be  standards, 
and  the  mental  attitude  of  the  people  upon  whom  it 
is  sought  to  impose  uniformity  would  take  a  volume 
by  itself. 

The   state   of   the   weights   and   measures  is   chaos 
itself,  to  which  the  amount   of   regularity  applied  is 
infinitesimal.     For   we    are   in    a   country  where    the 
trader  uses,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  differentiated 
measures  which   are  illegal  in   modernised   countries, 
buying  with  a  long  or  heavy  measure,  and  selling  with 
a  light  or  short  one.     The  examples  of  other  countries 
may  be  quoted  where  order  has  been  evolved  from 
chaos  and  uniformity  from  diversity  ;    but  one  must 
remember  that  China  is  not  one  country — it  is  a  dozenj 
countries,    a   continent,    with    a    population    and    the 
diversity  of  a  continent,   with  the  inborn  habits  of 
centuries  that  bring  the  minds  of  the  people  into  a 
stereotyped  condition,  having  the  natural  stubbornness  ' 
of  an  old  civilisation  to  resist  a  change.     All  that  the  | 
Government  does  takes  the  form  of  an  imperial  edict ;  / 
but   the   rain   soon   washes   away   the   ink   from   the  j 
proclamation !  ^J 

So  it  happens  that  fixed  theoretic  standards  do  not 
exist.  Every  trade  has  its  own  standard,  and  the 
trade  standards  of  one  place  are  not  the  same  as 
those  of  another. 

While  in  theory  the  tables  of  the  Empire  are  based 
generally  on  a  decimal  notation — a  point  in  which  the 
Chinese  show  their  wisdom  over  our  own  country — the 
Chinese  would  not  be  Chinese  if  in  applying  this 
practice  they  did  not  make  some  differences  perfectly 

399 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

recognised  and  accepted  as  the  custom   of  the  trade 
and  place. 

The  catt\'  generally  known — and  by  which  in  practice 
quantities  of  ordinary  commodities  are  usually  stated 
in  the  single  unit  of  catty,  even  when  the  amount  is 
millions — is  that  imposed  by  treaty  as  the  weight  to  be 
used  for  levy  of  Customs  Dut}' — 21 J  ounces  avoirdupois 
by  British,  604.53  grammes  by  French,  the  two  differing 
by  0.4  grammes  or  6  grains.  But  the  catty  varies. 
At  Canton,  I  have  found  it  ranging  from  ig.68  to 
22.06  ounces  ;  in  the  trade  area  of  Shanghai,  there  is 
a  standard  for  the  use  of  Chinese  in  their  foreign 
deahngs  of  20.4,  while  the  regular  guild  catty  is  18.6. 
A  few  others  are  : — 

Soo-chow  Guild 19.7  ounces. 

Imperial  Tribute  of  Rice         . .     20.6        ,, 

Sale  of  Oil 23.2 

Sale  of  Sugar      27.25 

Western  China  (Yiin-nan-fu)      19  to  24      ,, 

At  Hang-chow  there  are  seventeen  standards,  rang- 
ing from  16  to  24  ounces,  all  equally  recognised,  and 
throughout  the  Empire  catties  are  known  ranging  from 
12  to  as  high  as  42.5  ounces. 

One  hundred  catties  make  one  picul,  so  we  are  told 
by  the  table.  But  on  a  page  of  a  notebook  which  the 
writer  has  used  for  years  in  noting  differences,  he  finds 
that,  some  two  or  three  years  ago  in  Amoy,  the  picul  of 
indigo  was  no  catties,  of  white  sugar  95  catties,  and  of 
brown  sugar  94  catties.  Rice  in  Shanghai  is  100,  but 
at  Amoy  140,  and  Foo-chow  180  catties,  while  in 
Western  China  the  differences  are  enormous.  For 
example,  the  following  happened  in  less  than  a  month's 
journey  overland  in  Yiin-nan  : — 

Yiin-nan-fu  (the  capital)      . .      . .      1,100  catties  of 

rice  to  the 
picul. 

Tong-ch'uan-fu  (six  da5's  away)  . .        750     do. 

Chao-t'ong-fu  (eleven  days  away)        550     do. 

Ta-kwan  (two  days  from  Chao-t'ong)    180     do. 

In  Hankow  it  is  between  130  and  140  catties  of  rice  to 
the  picul. 

Capacity. — The  decimal  divisions  in  common  use 
are  :  The  tow  (one  tenth),  the  sheng  (one-hundredth), 

400 


CHINESE   WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 

and  the  kow  (one-thousandth)  ;  but  the  Chinese  table 
of  capacity  gives  sixteen  divisions,  down  to  no  less 
than  1, 000,000, 000, 000,000th  part  of  the  shih  (ten). 
The  tow,  which  may  be  called  the  Chinese  peck,  for 
tribute  contains  629  cubic  inches  (10.31  litres),  but  in 
different  parts  of  the  Empire  different  standards  of  tow 
exist.  I  believe  the  lowest  is  176,  and  the  highest 
runs  up  to  1,800  cubic  inches. 

Distance  and  Length. — It  cannot  be  said  of  the  ' 
Chinese  that  they  trouble  themselves  with  the  accurate 
measurement  of  distance.  In  no  other  country  in  the 
world  is  there  so  much  laxity  in  regard  to  distance 
generally,  and  so  much  ignorance  on  the  part  of  the 
people  as  to  what  constitutes  any  recognised  measure. 
The}^  are  as  bad  as  the  old-time  Dutch,  who  measured 
their  canal  boats'  runs  by  the  number  of  pipes  smoked. 
The  li,  a  word  understood  by  every  Chinaman  living,  is  a 
variable  quantity,  and  it  is  travel  in  the  interior  of  the 
Empire  which  teaches  one  to  appreciate  the  extreme 
variableness  of  this  general  measure  of  distance  in 
China. 

By  Chinese  reckoning,  if  it  is  five  li  from  the  top  of 
the  Strand  to  Blackfriars  Bridge,  it  may  be  ten  li  re- 
turning by  the  same  uphill  road  ;  and  a  mountain  in 
Western  China  may  be  spoken  of  as  a  hundred  miles  high 
— by  road.  This  theoretic  unit,  the  li,  certainly  does 
exist,  and  means  1,800  of  the  land  feet,  but  as  the  latter 
varies,  so  would  the  li  naturally  vary.  In  Szech'wan 
the,  writer  has  walked  twenty-five  li  before  breakfast ; 
but  in  the  adjoining  province,  Yiin-nan,  it  has  often  been 
hard  work  to  cover  twenty-five  li  before  tiffin,  walking  at 
the  same  pace,  so  great  is  the  difference  in  the  li.  It  is 
based  on  the  Customs  foot  of  14.  i  English  inches,  and 
would  measure  705  yards,  or  four-tenths  of  a  statute 
mile.  In  practice  it  is  one-hundredth  of  the  distance 
a  coolie  will  cover  in  a  day  of  ten  hours'  marching.* 

Length,  however,  has  nothing  in  it  approaching 
anylpretence  at  accuracy.  The  table  is  divided  deci- 
mally down  to  the  ten-millionth  part  of  a  foot,  and 
goes  up  to  a  chang — 10  ft.  As  has  been  said,  the  foot 
-mposed    by   treaty    and    accepted    by   the    Customs 

*  I  havej  been  from  dawn  [s:\y  $  a.m.)  to  dark  (saj'  6  Y^.m..) 
covering  40  li.  Of  course  the  distance  was  all  climbing,  but  it 
should  have  been  called  100  li.  if  the  Chinese  were  consistent.— 
E.J.D. 

401 
27 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 


measures  14.  i  English  inches,  but  this  finds  no  counter- 
part at  Canton,  and  many  other  places.  The  following 
table  will  show  a  few  of  the  differences  in  places  where 
Western  influence  and  organisation  has  done  much  to 
break  down  the  old  regime,  and  to  tend  towards  uni- 
formity— the  conditions  in  the  far  interior  may  be 
imagined  : — 

Land  Tailor's  Carpenter's 

foot.  foot.  foot. 

Inches  Inches.  Inches. 

Canton      j  ^^"^  j  . .     14.8       . .     13.8 

Shanghai 12.1*   ..     13.85     ..     11. i 

Timber  foot. 
Nanking 13.5      . .        —       . .     11. 6 

Soo-chow  . .      . .       —       . .  I  jj  J       •  •     — 

Mason's  foot. 

Shuihing 13.6      . .      ii.i        . .      14 

Yiin-nan-fu  (Western 

China) 15.2     . .      11. 8       .  .     — 

Land  is  generally  measured  by  the  carpenter's  foot. 
The  above  instances  of  crass  inconsistency  might  be 
amplified  indefinitely.  The  writer  has  known  local 
standards  of  the  foot  as  low  as  8.6,  and  the  highest  goes, 
he  believes,  to  27.8. 

The  unit  of  area,  the  mow,  is  purely  decimal,  being 
divided  down  to  one  ten-millionth  part ;  100  mow 
make  a  ching.  In  the  calculation  of  the  mow  occurs 
one  of  two  departures  from  the  decimal  system 
in  China — the  other  being  the  sixteen  ling  (tael)  making 
one  kin  (catty), — it  is  240  square  paces  or  bows, 
each  bow  being  five  feet  long,  and  is  therefore  6,000 
square  land  feet,  but  as  the  land  foot  varies,  so  does  the 
mow  vary.  The  "  customary  "  mow  at  Shanghai  is 
exactly  one-sixth  of  an  English  acre  (7,260  square  feet, 
English)  ;  but  throughout  the  empire  the  mow  varies 
from  3,840  to  9,964,  with  one  standard  of  18,148  English 
square  feet.f 

*  Foot  in  ordinary  use  for  the  transfer  of  landc=  13.2  inches. 

■f  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  H.  B.  Morse's  The  Trade  and  Adminis- 
tration of  the  Chinese  Empire  (Kelly  and  Walsh  Ltd.)  for  a  good 
deal  of  the  technical  information  embodied  in  this  appendix. 


402 


APPENDIX    C. 


GOITRE    IN    WESTERN    CHINA. 

Many  times  throughout  this  book  goitre  has  been 
mentioned.  The  districts  in  which  it  was  most  common 
extended  from  Chao-t'ong-fu  to  Yiin-nan-fu,  right  on  to 
Tengyueh,  in  greater  or  lesser  degree.  When  one  sees^ 
it  for  the  first  time  one  wonders  whatever  it  can  be^ 

In  certain  sections  of  Yiin-nan  there  is  endemic  a 
form  of  goitre,  which  is  a  simple  enlargement  of  all  the 
constituent  parts  of  the  thyroid  gland — this  is  perhaps 
the  most  common  kind.  One  village  between  Tong- 
ch'uan-fu  and  Ch'u-tsing-fu  is  almost  entirely  popu- 
lated by  people  suffering  from  goitre  and  by  their 
progeny.  Even  a  short  stay  among  these  miserable 
people  has  a  most  depressing  effect  upon  the  traveller. 
Here  the  Chinese  attribute  the  cause  of  the  disease  to 
the  use  of  what  is  called  "  white  "  salt — they  prefer  an 
iron-grey  salt,  the  colour  of  which  is  due  to  the  admix- 
ture with  mud,  which  is  much  more  highly  esteemed 
than  the  really  white  salt.  Some  have  noticed  that 
limestone  is  plentiful  in  goitre  districts. 

The  most  successful  treatment  has  been  inunction 
with  the  red  iodide  of  mercury  ointment,  with  exposure 
to  bright  sunlight  or  great  heat.  All  who  have  perse- 
vered with  the  treatment  have  received  benefit,  and  in 
one  case  the  gland  resumed  its  normal  dimensions. 
Few,  however,  of  the  sufferers  are  sufficiently  con- 
cerned about  their  trouble  to  seek  treatment,  although 
the  burden  of  the  frequently  excessive  enlargement 
must  be  very  trying  to  the  owner.  Biniodide  of 
mercury  has  removed  goitre  by  the  thousand  in  India. 
The  practice  there  is  to  rub  in  for  ten  minutes  an  oint- 
ment consisting  of  three  drachms  of  the  biniodide  to 
one  pound  of  lard.  The  patient  is  afterwards  to  sit 
with  his  goitre  exposed  to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  till 
he  is  unable  to  bear  the  smarting.  After  this,  some 
more  ointment  is  gently  applied,  the  patient  is  sent 
home,  and  the  case  seldom  requires  further  treatment. 
In  West  China,  however,  goitre  is  more  rampant  than 
in  India. 


403 


APPENDIX    D. 


THE    HANKOW    RIOT    OF    JANUARY,    1911. 

By  a  curious  irony  of  fate,  I  was  present  in  Hankow 
during  the  riots  which  took  place  in  January  of  this 
year  (191 1).  I  had  finished  my  travels  in  China,  as 
already  recorded,  had  come  down  the  Yangtze 
Gorges,  and  had  taken  up  residence  at  Hankow  only  a 
few  davs  when  trouble  broke  out ;  and  as  I  have  had 
a  good  deal  to  say  in  this  volume  about  riots 
and  rebellions,  it  is  perhaps  well  that  the  reader  be 
presented  with  a  short  account  of  the  affairs  at  this 
most  important  city  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  when  they 
were  at  their  worst. 

On  Saturday  evening,  January  21st,  1911,  I  went  to 
my  bed  as  peacefully  as  ever  I  had  in  my  life.  Through- 
out the  British  Concession  there  was  not  a  whisper  of 
discontent  among  the  people.  On  Sunday,  at  dawn, 
I  was  awakened  by  a  howling  mob  just  underneath 
my  bedroom  window,  and  on  looking  out  to  ascertain 
the  cause,  saw  a  swarm  of  excited  coolies  smashing  up 
one  or  two  rickshaws  belonging  to  a  French  rickshaw 
contractor.  They  split  up  the  splash-boards,  banged 
the  pneumatic-t^Ted  wheels  to  pieces,  and  seemed  to  be 
holding  the  situation.  Going  out  into  the  streets,  I 
found  that  a  riot  had  been  organised,  the  Sikh  police 
had  been  forced  to  retire,  the  British  Police 
Station  had  been  stoned,  and  that  the  place  was  in 
turmoil.  The  Concession  was  surrounded,  and  a 
seething  mass  of  infuriated  men  were  howling  for 
vengeance.  For  what  ?  On  the  previous  day  a 
Chinese  rickshaw  coolie  had  been  found  by  one  of  the 
British  police  officers  on  the  Bund.  He  was  taken  to 
the  chief  medical  man  in  the  city,  by  which  time  it  was 
found  that  life  was  extinct.  The  body  was  then  turned 
out  on  the  city  wall,  as  is  the  custom,  and  after  the 
event,  which  was  thought  nothing  of  by  the  officials, 
the  story  went  round  with  alarming  rapidity  that  the 

404 


THE    HANKOW    RIOT    OF    JANUARY,    1911. 

man  had  been  kicked  to  death  by  the  European  officer. 
Thus  the  riot  arose.  Throughout  the  day  the  wildest 
excitement  prevailed,  and  at  times  it  seemed  as  if  the 
Concession  would  be  destroyed  and  the  Europeans 
murdered.  The  British  gunboat  Thistle,  and  the 
German  gunboat  Jaguar,  landed  men  and  .  guns,  the 
volunteers  were  called  out,  ever}^  European  who  could 
shoot  took  arms.  We  were  stoned  on  the  Bund,  and 
openly  derided  everywhere.  I  was  at  one  time  during 
the  day  in  the  middle  of  a  throng  of  twenty  thousand, 
who  were  pulling  down  the  trees,  throwing  the  seats 
over  into  the  river-bed,  pulling  up  cast-iron  drains  to 
smash  in  order  to  get  suitable  missiles  to  hurl  at  us. 
One  coolie,  vile  in  temper  and  cruel  looking,  came  four 
yards  from  me,  just  as  three  pounds  of  iron  whizzed 
past  my  head.  I  was  near  a  naval  man,  who  stood 
with  fixed  bayonet.  Reaching  forward  to  prevent  the 
m^n  from  getting  a  brick  which  he  would  have  aimed 
at  me,  the  man  jabbed  the  hooligan  with  his  bayonet, 
which  went  farther  than  he  had  intended  it  should  go, 
and  it  pierced  the  shoulder.  So  the  firing  started.  The 
order  was  given,  and  our  men  banged  away  for  a  couple 
of  minutes — their  casualty  list  was  about  seven  or  eight 
dead  and  several  mortally  wounded.  Such  a  scene 
has  never  been  witnessed  in  the  history  of  Hankow ; 
and  such  an  occurrence,  with  loss  of  life  to  the  Chinese, 
without  assassination  of  a  single  white,  is  uneclipsed  in 
China.  We  have,  of  course,  not  to  search  long  before 
we  find  again  and  again  how  the  Chinese  have  killed 
foreigners,  and  practically  no  redress  has  been  possible. 
Two  or  three  thousand  of  the  Chinese  Model  Army  were 
brought  over  from  Wuchang,  but  only  after  a  great 
delay  by  the  Viceroy  ;  had  there  been  no  delay  on  his 
part,  there  would  have  been  no  shooting  and  no  loss  of 
life  to  the  Chinese. 

Without  going  into  a  detailed  description  of  the 
event,  I  might  add  that  as  I  write  now  (January  28th, 
1911)  I  have  a  loaded  piece  at  my  side,  and  the  blue- 
jackets are  guarding  the  entrances  to  the  Concession.  All 
seems  quiet,  but  one  never  knows  what  may  happen  with 
the  Chinaman,  for  events  take  place  in  one's  dealing  with  y 
him  just  at  the  ver}^  moment  when  one  is  off  his  guard. 

There  may  be  many  who  disagree  with  me,  but,  as 
will  have  been  seen  in  previous  chapters  in  this  volume,  I 
am  strongly  of  opinion  that  Boxerism  is  not  yet  dead 

405 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

in  China.  Such  an  uprising  as  this,  in  perhaps  the  most 
important  city  in  China  (if  we  except  Shanghai),  where 
foreigners  are  estabHshed  firmly  in  trade  with  Chinese, 
and  where  milhons  of  pounds  of  foreign  money  are 
wrapped  up  in  trade  equipment  and  so  on,  again 
furnishes  us  with  evidence  all  too  sad  that  a  great  gulf 
divides  the  people  of  China  from  the  people  of  European 
nations.  During  those  years  when  China  spreads  her 
wings  in  tranquillity  over  us,  we  wh©  live  in  the  land 
and  mix  freely  among  the  people,  speaking  their 
language  and  largely  living  the  life  Chinese,  are  apt  to 
imagine  that  the  fault  of  former  trouble  has  been 
largely  on  the  side  of  the  victimised  European.  We  get 
close  to  the  people,  learn  to  sympathise  and  be  sym- 
pathised with,  and  generally  declare  the  Chinaman  to 
be  all  round  one  of  the  best  fellows  in  the  world.  And 
such  he  assuredly  is.  But  he  is  a  man  of  extremely 
peculiar  make-up.  In  times  of  peace,  he  is  the  most 
reasonable  and  reasoning  man  on  this  planet ;  in  times 
of  dispute  and  wrangling,  no  man  on  this  planet  or  off 
it  is  so  absolutely  devoid  of  reason.  He  rises  up  and 
slashes  out,  he  loots,  he  kills,  he  lies  outrageously,  he 
goes  mad.  The  reader  will  have  seen  how  the  author 
had  the  misfortune  to  be  in  the  Interior  of  this  great 
Empire,  and  how  in  his  travels  was  in  great  danger 
from  the  maddened  populace  ;  so  that  he  is  not  speaking 
without  knowledge.  And,  although  he  is  most 
sympathetically  inclined  towards  the  people,  and  is 
able  the  longer  he  lives  among  them  to  admire  the 
Chinaman  more,  yet  there  is  much  in  their  civilisation 
which  he  cannot  understand.  This  of  course  is  a  com- 
mon experience,  and  in  some  senses  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at.  An  Englishman  cannot  "  understand  "  a 
German,  or  a  Frenchman,  or  a  Turk,  or  a  Kaffir,  or  any 
other  nationality — until  he  can  speak  his  language,  and 
then  he  finds  that  there  is  much  in  common.  So  with 
the  Chinese.  There  is  much  in  common  between  us  ; 
but  when  you  think  you  have  gone  all  the  way,  there 
arises  some  day  just  one  thing  more  that  you  cannot 
fathom  in  the  Chinese  mind  or  character,  just  one 
thing  that  presents  so  many  aspects  from  whichever 
point  you  look  at  it. 

This  national  hysteria  is  one  of  them,  and  to  my 
mind  it  constitutes  one  of  the  greatest  dangers  of  the 
world  in  the  Far  East  to-day. 

406 


THE   HANKOW  RIOT   OF  JANUARY,   191 1. 

These  are  the  occasions  upon  which  the  Chinese 
truthfully  exhibit  their  real  attitude  towards  us,  and 
we  get  it  then  minus  the  usual  veneer  which  covers 
much  of  their  national  life — in  ordinary  times  you  can 
never  be  quite  sure  that  the  Chinese  people,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest  among  them,  mean  anything 
that  they  say  or  do.  It  is  a  national  fault,  or  virtue,  as 
the  case  may  be.  But  these  outbursts  take  place  as 
quickly  as  cyclones  or  earthquakes,  rubbing  off  all  the 
veneer,  and  we  see  the  Chinaman  just  as  he  really  is,  just 
as  he  really  feels  towards  us.  Some  day,  I  feel  constrained 
to  say  (although  I  have  many  Chinese  who  are  my 
friends),  I  believe  we  shall  see  again  this  common 
antagonism  spreading  to  enormous  areas,  rising  in  a 
terrible  activity,  accompanied  with  horrors  and  agonies 
which  no  man  dare  describe. 

Boxerism,  in  such  events  as  this  riot,  is  given  a  fillip 
which  we  are  unable  to  measure.  All  goes  on  as  before  ; 
but  the  Chinaman,  cunning,  crafty,  two-faced,  a  past- 
master  in  duplicity,  whose  whole  life  is  one  vast  sham, 
gains  courage  and  experience  whilst  we  rejoice  openly 
that  here  and  now  we  are  safe  and  at  peace. 

There  is  much  that  could  be  written  to  show  that  we 
should  lose  no  time  in  getting  prepared  in  China  for 
the  worst  that  we  can  fear  might  happen.  All  the 
gunboats  should  be  fitted  with  wireless,  in  each  coast 
port  there  should  be  a  strong  volunteer  service,  and  it 
should  be  made  compulsory  for  all  foreigners  to  be 
trained  in  the  art  of  self-defence.  I  would  even 
advocate  an  international  corps  ;  in  China  we  foreigners 
cannot  afford  to  be  divided — China  does  not  discrimi- 
nate, a  foreigner  is  a  foreigner,  no  matter  what  his 
distinction  of  nation. 

But  with  that  sort  of  thing  I  have  no  space  now 
to  deal. 

What  I  would  like  to  say  is  that  what  I  have  written 
pertains  to  the  common  multitudes  of  China,  the 
teeming  millions  of  whose  numbers  we  of  the  West 
have  no  conception.  I  do  not  think  that  it  pertains 
to  the  Government  of  China.  But  as  I  have  often 
pointed  out  in  this  book,  the  voice  of  the  Government 
is  not  the  voice  of  the  people.  We  all  know  the 
Government  is  going  to  win,  but  in  a  country  which 
forms  no  inconsiderable  part  of  Asia,  and  which  har- 
bours about  a  quarter  of  the  whole  population  of  the 


407 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

world,  reforms  are  slow  in  coming.  You  see,  the  rain 
washes  out  the  ink,  and  to  the  Chinese  mind  that  is  a 
fine  thing,  because  it  shows  clearly  enough  that  the 
decree  is  over  and  done  with. 

I  wish  I  had  time  and  space  to  discuss  the  matter 
from  the  standpoint  of  missions  and  missionaries.  It 
surely  does  seem  that  Christianity,  which  has  been 
spread  more  or  less  successfully  into  every  nook  and 
crann}'  of  the  Empire,  has  not  got  very  deep-rooted, 
and  the  effect  of  such  outbreaks  as  this  will  tend  to  put 
the  missionary  clock  back  a  couple  of  decades  or  more. 
Until  the  faith  that  we  profess  is  to  become  a  per- 
manency in  China,  the  list  of  the  martyrs  must,  I  fear, 
be  lengthened,  and  the  man-in-the-street  is  apt  to  ask 
whether  it  is  worth  it  all.  From  a  human  standpoint, 
it  is  not.  There  is  no  doubt  about  it — it  is  not,  so  far  as 
we  can  see.  But  there  is  One,  the  Creator  and  Con- 
troller of  all  things,  in  the  hollow  of  whose  hand  men  of 
the  West  and  the  East  intermingle  as  He  wishes.  Such 
catastrophes  as  we  fear  are  inevitable  in  China  during, 
the  next  decade  must  strengthen  us  who  profess  to  do 
His  will  in  the  faith  that  in  His  plans  there  is  no 
flaw.  Rather  than  damp  our  ardour  in  the  efficacy  of 
missions,  it  should  strengthen  our  faith  in  the  need 
of  them. 


408 


APPENDIX    E. 


THE    TONKIN-YUN-NAN    RAILWAY,    AND 
OTHER    SCHEMES. 

All  praise  is  due  to  the  French  for  the  completion  of 
the  first  railway  in  Western  China.  It  has  been 
completed  only  after  years  of  unremitting  labour  against 
terrible  natural  difficulties,  and  in  the  building  few 
modern  railroads  have  given  greater  surprises  to  the 
engineers  or  more  disappointments.  Along  a  portion 
of  the  route,  especially  in  the  dreaded  Namti  Valley, 
over  most  arduous  country,  almost  insurmountable 
difficulties  have  had  to  be  tackled  and  overcome,  and 
now  present  remarkable  feats  of  railroad  engineering. 

The  scenery  through  which  the  line  takes  one 
combines  beautiful  panorama  of  rocky  mountain  and 
fertile  valley,  winding  river  and  wooded  dale,  falling 
cascades  and  racing  river  and  waterfall — a  happy 
combination  of  the  magnificence  of  the  Alps  and  the 
delicate  pastoral  beauty  of  the  Riviera.  It  was  a 
creditable  undertaking,  and,  taken  all  in  all,  is  able 
favourably  to  compare,  for  rolling  stock  and  general 
equipment,  with  any  railway  east  of  Suez — certainly 
with  those  of  Northern  China.  It  pushes  out  through 
the  paddy  fields  of  Hanoi,  flings  itself  cheerfully  into 
the  difficult  country  beyond  Vietre,  and  demands  the 
assistance  of  no  fewer  than  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  bridges  to  defy  the  challenge  of  the  unbroken  land 
to  Lao-kai,  a  bridge  almost  every  mile.  Thence  it 
shoots  north,  now  following  the  river  course,  now  across 
unhealthy  marsh,  now  dodging  a  six-thousand-foot 
mountain,  and  losing  itself  in  the  deep  gorge  beyond — 
up,  up,  until  6,400  feet  above  sea  level.  Whether  it 
will  ever  be  a  financial  success  cannot  yet  come  within 
the  range  of  prophecy.  The  probable  cost  of  upkeep 
will  be  so  heavy  that,  even  with  the  accelerated  trade 
expected  from  over  the  French  border,  and  the  transit 

409 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

of  the  millions  of  tons  of  merchandise  now  carried  by 
pack-horse  and  on  coolie  back  at  points  between  the 
two  termini  of  Haiphong  and  Yiin-nan-fu,  it  is  difficult 
to  see  how  it  can  for  many  years  be  made  a  paying 
concern  as  paying  concerns  go  in  the  Far  East.  The 
writer,  however,  personally  believes  that  ultimately  it 
will  be  a  financial  success. 

At  the  present  moment  there  are  so  many  who  have 
developed  such  a  wonderful  knowledge  of  this  railway 
that  to  add  anything  more  about  it  seems  almost  super- 
fluous and  likely  to  tire  the  reader.  Scribes  of  Fleet 
Street,  who  have  never  been  out  of  England,  have 
written  awful  nonsense  as  to  the  wonderful  success  it  is 
going  to  be  to  the  French ;  and  whilst  I  believe  it  will 
be  ultimately,  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  French  will 
regret  very  soon  that  they  did  not  make  the  permanent 
way  somewhat  more  permanent.  Some  of  the  work  is 
very  badly  done,  and  upkeep  will  be  the  crippling 
item  of  expenditure  undoubtedly. 

Very  considerable  trading  benefits  are  calculated 
ultimately  to  accrue  to  Mengtsz,  which  may  be  taken 
as  a  typical  frontier  port,  and  is  the  only  one  of  the 
four  in  the  province  now  open  which  has  developed 
trade  worthy  of  consideration. 

Situated  at  an  altitude  of  about  5,000  feet,  it  is  forty 
miles  distant  from  its  junk  port,  Manhao  (altitude 
900  feet)  on  the  red  river,  which  again  is  six  days'  junk 
journey  from  Hokow.  Before  the  building  of  railways, 
the  course  for  imports  from  Haiphong  during  the 
summer  floods  was  by  steamer  to  Lao-kai,  and  during 
winter  by  steamer  to  Yenbay,  thence  by  native  craft 
to  Manhao,  thence  by  pack  animal  to  Mengtsz,  and  so 
on  for  distribution  throughout  the  province,  each  animal 
taking  an  average  load  of  160  pounds. 

The  main  centres  above  Mengtsz,  on  the  route  to 
Yiin-nan-fu,  are  Amichow,  Po-hsi  (4,170  feet),  and 
Yiliang-hsien,  two  days  distant  by  road  from  the  capital. 

From  Mengtsz  upwards  the  line,  running  to  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Yiin-nan  lakes  (Chen-chiang-hai  and 
Kunyang-hai),  cannot  be  said  to  cater  for  the  busiest 
districts  and  for  the  towns  sending  most  produce  to 
the  capital.  For  instance,  Tunghai-hsien,  on  the  main 
pack  road,  and  the  centre  of  a  most  fertile  and  populous 
valley,  is  not  touched  by  the  line — is  over  one  hundred 
li  away  as  a  matter  of  fact,  between  Amichow  and 


410 


THE    TONKIN-YUN-NAN    RAILWAY. 

Po-hsi ;  and  one  would  have  expected  that  the  railway 
would  have  been  brought  into  easier  access  to  this 
important  centre,  instead  of  running,  as  it  does  now, 
through  practically  unimportant  country,  and  near  in 
some  places  to  unsurveyed  territory.  By  taking  the 
line  to  the  east  of  the  lakes,  or  between  the  two,  several 
cities  of  considerable  size  and  importance  would  have 
been  served,  namely  Tunghai-hsien,  Chiang-chuan-hsien, 
Cheng-kung-hsien  and  Chinning-chow  (three  hsiens  and  a 
chow*),  whereas  the  present  route  reaches  only  one  hsien 
and  one  chow.  However,  the  natural  difhculties  of  the 
mountainous  country  probably  influenced  the  surveyors ; 
but  millions  of  francs  have  been  more  or  less  wisely 
spent  in  the  building  of  the  line,  and  now  that  it  is 
finished  it  does  not  take  the  eye  of  an  engineering 
expert  to  see  that  the  route  described  above  would 
have  been  the  one  likely  to  bring  more  traffic  to 
the  line. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  line  will  affect  the  places 
l5dng  on  the  main  road  leading  down  through  the 
province  to  Mengtsz.  I  have  heard  it  said  that  the 
pack-horse  carrying  trade  will  not  be  affected  in  the 
least ;  and  understanding  the  conservatism  of  the  west! 
of  China,  predominant  here  more  than  in  any  other  part 
of  the  Empire  or  of  the  world,  one  does  not  feel  surprised. 
An  invasion  of  the  customs  of  the  Chinese  is  an  invasion 
of  the  regions  which  they  hold  most  sacred  :  they  attach 
undue  importance  to  precedent,  and  this  instinct  must 
be  rightly  understood  and  cautiously  handled  by  the^ 
French  if  by  degrees  they  are  to  secure  the  transit  of 
the  enormous  trade  which  now  and  which  has  for 
thousands  of  years  been  transported  by  the  human 
beast  of  burden  and  the  pack-horse. 

But  the  French  should  congratulate  themselves  that 
but  little  opposition  has  been  offered  by  the  Chinese 
during  the  building  of  the  railroad.  In  older  days, 
when  the  people  did  not  understand  so  well,  the  public 
had  to  be  reckoned  with.  Some  of  the  older  of  us 
remember,  at  the  time  of  the  construction  of  the 
Shanghai-Woosung  Railway,  how  mobs  were  organised, 
and  portions  of  the  line  and  bridges  secretly  destroyed. 
The  Chinese  in  Yiin-nan  have  even  consented  to  the 


Fu       Town  of  1st  order. 

Chow Town  of  2nd  order. 

Hsien Town  of  3rd  order. 

411 


/ 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

removal  of  graves,  have  without  any  fuss  surrendered 
their  land — all  quietly  done  for  a  sufficient  number 
of  shekels. 

Now  that  the  railway  has  become  a  reality  to  Yiin-nan- 
fu — hundreds  of  people  in  the  province  were  of  opinion 
that  this  would  never  have  been  accomplished,  and 
surely  it  has  taken  long  enough — one  begins  to  think 
that,  despite  the  enormous  undertaking  it  would  be, 
railway  connection  will  ultimately  be  possible  over  the 
proposed  route  from  Yiin-nan-fu  to  Luchow,  in 
Szech'wan. 

For  a  very  considerable  time  the  route  has  been 
surveyed,  and  every  now  and  then  rumours  have 
gained  currency  that  the  work  would  soon  be  started, 
but  up  to  the  present  nothing  has  actually  been 
accomphshed.  More  than  one  expert  has  given  the 
opinion  that  it  is  a  matter  of  absolute  impossibility 
to  lay  down  a  line  here  over  the  mountains,  and  that 
there  is  no  likelihood  of  the  traffic  being  catered 
for  in  any  other  way  than  by  means  of  the 
horses  and  mules  and  the  coolie  labour  now  used  ; 
and  one  who  knows  the  country  and  has  suffered 
the  arduous  toil  which  travel  in  this  part  of 
country  means  would  agree  that  only  by  the 
spending  of  an  enormous  amount  of  money — which 
would  probably  never  be  repaid — could  a  railway  be 
built.  The  mountains  seem  to  be  all  laid  down  the 
wrong  way.  But  there  are  many  other  huge  difficulties 
presented  in  this  country  of  lakes,  rivers,  and  moun- 
tains which  only  a  railroad  engineer  would  understand.* 

In  some  places  the  proposed  route  takes  one  over 
country  eight  and  nine  thousand  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea,  descending  rapidly  at  the  lowest  point  to 
less  than  three  thousand.  Leaving  Yiin-nan-fu  the 
present  terminus,  6,400  feet  high,  the  route  runs 
through  the  important  city  of  Yanglin,  thence  on  the 
Yilang  (8,000  feet),  dropping  again  at  Maling-chow  to 
6,980  feet,   with  a    gradual  descent  to  Ch'u-tsing-fu, 

*  At  the  time  of  writing  there  are  two  American  engineers  in 
the  employ  of  the  Chinese  Government  surveying  a  new  route 
from  the  capital  to  a  point  at  the  head  of  the  navigable  Yangtze, 
I  passed  their  headquarters  at  Chi-li-p'u  (between  Chao-t'ong-fu 
and  Lao-wa-t'an)  as  I^  was  on  my  way  back  overland  to  Hankow 
late  in  December,  19 10,  and  they  had  at  that  time  made  thorough 
surveys  of  country  between  Yiin-nan-fu  and  that  place.  It  is 
probable  that  something  may  have  been  heard  of  that  scheme 
by  the  time  this  reaches  the  reader.     (See  page  386). 

412 


THE    TONKIN-YUN  NAN    RAILWAY. 

the  centre  of  a  prosperous  district,  itself  on  the  main 
road.  The  Hne  would  then  leave  the  main  road  to 
Kweichow  province  at  Chanyi-chow,  and  thence, 
through  very  mountainous  country,  would  reach 
Hsuan-wei-chow,  the  country  undulating  between 
heights  of  7,500  and  6,000  feet.  The  country  around 
here  seems  impassable. 

From  Ch'u-tsing-fu,  the  route  is  traced  through  the 
valleys  and  over  a  range  of  mountains  running  in  a 
north-easterly  direction  all  the  way  to  Weining-chow, 
7,500  feet  above  the  level.  This  is  perhaps  the  most 
important  city  in  the  route  up  to  Luchow,  on  the 
Yangtze.  It  is  practically  on  the  borders  of  Kweichow 
and  Szech'wan,  in  a  district  of  surpassing  beauty, 
in  the  midst  of  rolling  hills  and  lakes  and  fertile 
vegetation.  Around  here  are  mountains  rising  to 
over  nine  thousand  odd  feet,  and  much  of  the 
country  unsurveyed. 

From  Weining-chow  there  is  also  a  branch  line  sur- 
veyed going  off  in  a  north-westerly  direction  to  Chao- 
t'ong-fu,  thence  up  to  Ta-kwan  and  Lao-wa-t'an,  and 
down  by  water  to  Sui-fu,  which  is  of  course  con- 
nected with  Luchow  by  the  main  river.  This  would 
not,  however,  be  the  main  route,  which  would  run,  via 
Yuning-hsien  (3,000  feet),  on  through  the  more  populous 
country  to  Luchow,  whence  the  Chung-king  and 
Yangtze  trade  would  be  handled  on  the  river. 

Luchow  is  an  enormously  rich  city  on  the  Upper 
Yangtze. 

Whether  this  proposed  line  will  ever  be  laid  down  or 
not  I  do  not  believe  anyone  living  can  tell.  If  it  once 
became  an  accomplished  fact  the  exports  from  the 
rich  province  of  Szech'wan  would  go  ahead  by  leaps 
and  bounds.  As  it  is,  the  Tonkin-Yiin-nan  line  will  do 
much  in  this  direction.  Goods  for  the  Interior  which 
now  go  to  Shanghai  and  thence  up  the  Yangtze  as  far 
as  Ichang  by  steamer,  and  thence  to  Chung-king  by  the 
risky  junk  transit  through  the  rapids  will  come  direct 
to  Kaiphong,  or  perhaps  with  British  goods  to  Hong- 
Kong,  tranship  for  Haiphong,  thence  by  rail  to  Yiin-nan- 
fu,  and  overland  by  pack-horse. 

j^rom  Yiin-nan-fu  to  Chung-king  by  road  is  prac- 
tically_a  month — about  as  long  as  the  journey  from 
_Ichang  to  Chung-king.  So  that  a  great  saving  of 
time  will  be  effected  as  it  is,  at  the  same  time  doing 

413 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

away  with  the  danger  of  partial  or  total  wreck  in  the 
Upper  Yangtze. 

*  *  *  * 

Since  the  French  railway  was  opened  the  Viceroy, 
Li-Chin  Hsi,  has  shown  considerable  anxiety,  and  has 
been  pushing  a  scheme  to  run  a  line  from  the  capital 
down  through  the  Liang  Kwang  provinces  to  the  Si- 
kiang  (or  West  River)  leading  to  Canton  and  Hong 
Kong.  A  good  deal  of  talk  has  eventuated,  and  it  is 
believed  that  a  surveying  party  are  drawing  up  a  scheme 
to  be  presented  to  the  throne.  And  on  the  face  of  it 
it  seems  a  reasonable  enough  proposition.  The 
difficulties  of  construction  would  not  be  great — 
incomparably  easier  than  the  Tonkin-Yiin-nan  line — 
and  the  amount  of  money  required  would  not  be 
stupendous.  If  the  project  should  be  pushed  to  a 
successful  issue,  it  would  mean  that  the  present  French 
railway  would  be  scrapped,  as  no  British  importer 
would  dream  of  paying  the  heavy  tariffs  of  Indo-China 
to  bring  goods  in  via  Haiphong. 


414 


APPENDIX    F. 


MILITARY    PROGRESS    IN    CHINA. 

The  following,  written  in  February,  1911,  bears  out 
stni  further  the  opinions  expressed  as  to  the  military 
progress  in  China  on  pages  212-216. 

In  February,  1911,  arose  the  rumour  that  the 
British  were  encamping  in  considerable  numbers  over 
the  border  of  Yiin-nan ;  and  although  the  British 
Minister  at  Peking  announced  most  emphatically  that 
it  was  merely  a  case  of  misunderstanding  on  the  part 
of  the  gentry  of  that  province,  sufficient  importance 
attached  to  the  presence  of  British  troops  as  to  spread 
an  alarmist  report  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  that  province.  Things  there  look  dangerous  enough 
at  the  present  moment. 

This  synchronised  with  the  presence  in  the  south  of 
Yiin-nan  of  French  troops  in  greater  numbers  than 
usual — the  purpose  for  which  they  were  there  being 
considered  unjustifiable,  to  be  something  more  than  the 
mere  guarding  of  the  railway — with  the  British  troops 
on  the  border  of  Tibet,  and  the  report  that  Russia  was 
about  to  send  to  China  an  ultimatum  respecting  her 
trade  rights  and  privileges  in  Mongolia.  So  that  it  is 
not  unnatural  for  the  Chinaman  of  this  isolated 
province  to  believe  that  among  the  Powers  there  is 
happening  a  sort  of  political  general  post,  that  the 
combined  forces  of  Europe  mean  to  strike  hard  at  China 
just  at  the  time  when  she  seems  weakest,  and  so  it  is 
easy  to  imagine  that  in  the  province  which  borders  on 
Burma  great  unrest  prevails.  So  far  as  we  are  con- 
cerned, the  Chinese  claim  that  we  have  no  right  to  send 
our  troops  over  the  border,  and  it  may  be  supposed 
that  we  have  not.  The  problem  is  rendered  all  the 
more  difficult  from  the  fact  that  at  the  present  time  a 
spirit  of  keenest  ill-feeling  runs  through  the  common 
people  on  account  of  the  opium  crusade,  the  railway, 

415 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the  general  spirit  of  reform,  which  is  erroneously  put 
down  to  the  credit  of  the  foreigner,  and  to  the  excessive 
taxation  necessary  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  reforms. 
Let  us  look  at  the  question  as  it  might  affect  British 
Burma.  When  I  arrived  at  Bhamo  an  ofificer  of  the 
Welsh  Fusiliers  (then  stationed  at  that  up-country 
station)  asked :  "  Well,  what  do  you  think  of  the 
Model  Army  of  Yiin-nan  ?  "  .  .  .  and  only  laughed 
to  scorn  the  suggestion  that  during  the  past  two  years 
Yiin-nan  had  made  enormous  military  strides,  and  dis- 
missed as  absolutely  ridiculous  my  opinion  that  at 
the  present  rate  of  progress  Yiin-nan  would  in  ten  years' 
time  be  able  to  put  in  the  field  some  forty  thousand 
trained  soldiers  who  would  be  able  to  compare  with  any 
Asiatic  soldier  (even  including  our  own  Sikhs),  and  be 
able  to  make  a  good  show  at  defending  the  country 
against  the  possible  invasion  by  the  troops  stationed  in 
Upper  Burma. 

"  Why,  man,"  said  the  amused  officer,  "  once  get  a 
few  of  our  little  twelve-pounders  at  work,  and  you  would 
soon  see  the  Chinaman  run  away  from  our  troops." 
He  then  went  on  most  arrogantly  to  explain  that 
fifteen  hundred  British  would  be  sufficient  for  a  good 
many  years  to  come  to  protect  British  interests  on  the 
border ;  and  although  he  enjoyed  the  little  stories  about 
the  training  in  the  capital  city  and  several  other  of  the 
larger  towns  of  the  province,  said  off-handedly  that  I 
was  not  a  military  man,  and  did  not  understand  these 
things.  And  so  it  is  with  the  average  man  in  Burma 
and  India — he  has  no  idea  whatever  of  what  Yiin-nan 
is  doing  to  bring  into  being  an  army  powerful  enough 
not  only  to  see  that  she  keeps  the  foreigner  out,  but 
that  she  will  be  in  a  position  absolutely  to  rule  the 
destinies,  commercially  and  politically,  of  Yiin-nan, 
and  keep  the  foreigner  just  as  far  off  as  she  wishes. 
Because  a  few  foreigners  during  the  last  decade  have 
found  it  impossible  to  refrain  from  writing  up  the 
absurdities  and  oddities  of  the  ragtag  and  bobtail  of 
yamen  runners  sent  to  escort  them  from  point  to  point 
in  their  travels  there,  it  has  come  to  be  understood 
that  Yiin-nan  has  no  army  at  all. 

But  a  greater  mistake  could  not  be  made,  and  if  the 
opinion  expressed  to  me  by  that  officer  of  the  Welsh 
Fusiliers,  who  had  never  put  foot  in  China,  and  who 
therefore  thought  he  knew  most  about  it,  be  taken  as  a 

416 


MILITARY    PROGRESS    IN    CHINA. 

criterion  of  the  ignorance  of  the  British  troops  to  whom 
the  safety  of  the  border  is  entrusted,  the  sooner  it  is 
dispelled  the  better  for  Burma. 

In  Yiin-nan-fu  alone  there  are  at  the  present  moment 
no  less  than  ten  thousand  troops  under  training.  The 
military  academy  would  be  a  credit  to  any  town  in 
India ;  the  discipline  and  military  bearing  of  the  troops 
on  parade  would  be  no  disgrace  to  any  native  or  foreign 
regiment  in  Asia ;  the  thoroughness  with  which  the 
Yiin-nan  Model  Army  is  equipped  with  modern  gear 
not  only  shows  that  the  provincial  authorities  mean 
business,  but  that  the  army  shall  be  in  a  position  to 
put  that  business  through.  In  the  capital  what  first 
strikes  the  visitor  is  the  military  and  imperial  spirit 
which  has  sprung  up  into  a  national  virtue  among  the 
people.  The  officers  in  many  cases  have  come  direct 
from  Germany  or  other  countries  of  Europe,  others 
have  been  drafted  from  the  capital  of  Peking,  and, 
with  queues  discarded  and  bearing  evidence  of  hard  drill 
in  military  strategy,  impress  one  that  the  new  army  is 
just  about  the  only  thing  which  is  real.  The  military 
progress  of  Yiin-nan  cannot  be  praised  too  highly. 

What  is  going  on  in  the  capital  city  I  have  seen  in  a 
lesser  degree  in  smaller  towns  throughout  the  province. 
InTali-fu,  in  Yung-chang  (three  days  from  Tengyueh), 
in  Ch'u-tsing-fu  (four  days  the  other  side  of  Yiin-nan-fu), 
in  Mengtsz,  in  Chao-t'ong-fu,  in  Tong-ch'uan-fu,  and 
many  other  places  through  which  I  have  travelled  I  have 
seen  this  military  spirit  most  marked.  In  many  cases 
the  soldiery  have  transformed  the  temples  into 
barracks,  in  others  they  have  erected  huge  arsenals 
and  modern  barracks,  but  everywhere  drill  goes  on 
from  morning  to  night.  It  is  doubtful  whether  Japan 
at  any  period  of  her  era  of  progress  made  greater  strides 
in  army  matters  than  Yiin-nan  is  making  at  the  present 
time  ;  and  what  may  be  said  of  Yiin-nan  is  true,  as  we 
all  know,  of  many  of  the  other  provinces  with  which, 
however,  Burma  has  less  to  do.  .  -, 

The  British  military  authorities  in  Burma  should  i 
not  hghtly  dismiss  the  possibility  of  Yiin-nan's  Model 
Army  being  a  menace  to  the  British  frontier.  The 
Model  Army  of  China  is  a  feature  of  the  Young  China 
party,  and  their  influence,  although  slow  in  coming, 
is  certainly  sure  of  establishing  a  firm  foothold  in  a 
province  so  full  of  conflicting  interests  as  is  Yiin-nan. 


417 
28 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

The  Reform  Movement  is  the  most  real  thing  in  Chinese 
politics,  but  because  of  its  unwieldiness  it  is  a  matter 
of  absolute  impossibility  for  the  country  to  fall 
immediately  into  line,  and  we  who  look  on  are  apt  so 
often  to  ridicule  and  altogether  to  doubt  the  ability 
of  the  Young  China  to  direct  tier  steps  aright.  Whilst 
the  military  question  is  one  essentially  for  the  Govern- 
ment, it  is  vitally  associated  with  the  Young  China 
spirit,  and  it  is  only  hoped  that  it  will  not  wreck  itself 
at  cross  purposes.  The  Government  and  the  Young 
China  party  are  now  in  antagonism ;  but  those  who 
know  most  about  the  policy  of  the  country  declare  that 
China,  from  within  and  from  without,  is  giving  proof 
after  proof  that  she  does  not  want  foreign  assistance 
to  play  any  part  in  the  regeneration  of  her  country. 
Whilst  from  within  she  is  begirt  with  many  separatist 
and  anti-Government  tendencies,  it  cannot  but  be 
admitted  that  the  Reform  Movement,  in  which  propa- 
ganda military  progression  stands  first,  goes  steadily 
ahead.  Its  final  outcome  is  impossible  to  see,  so 
complex  is  its  character  and  fraught  with  possibilities 
good  and  bad.  Her  attentions  should  be  given  to 
troubles  from  within ;  but  with  so  many  distorted  and 
contorted  reports  and  visions,  which  crowd  a  press 
notoriously  wicked,  it  is  quite  possible  that  China  may 
I  in  the  next  year  or  two  have  to  face  trouble  from 
[without.  Such  reports  as  that  of  the  assembling  of 
^British  troops  on  the  Yiin-nan  border  are  calculated 
to  ferment  the  feeling  of  the  people  to  greater  hatred 
of  the  British ;  and  history,  which  contains  so  blood- 
thirsty a  record  of  China's  dealings  with  Europe 
within  her  own  borders,  may  yet  have  to  chronicle  a 
period  of  revenge  against  the  foreigners,  and  internal 
strife,  such  as  will  prove  a  terrible  ordeal  to  China 
before  she  can  enter  into  the  comity  of  nations.  China 
must  be  careful  if  she  would  escape  from  herself,  her 
own  greatest  enemy.  So  far  as  the  entry  of  troops 
over  the  British  border  is  concerned,  anyone  who  has 
studied  Anglo-Chinese  relations  during  the  past  decade 
would  know  that  Britain  would  not  be  the  aggressor 
there.  There  may  or  may  not  be  some  misunder- 
standing as  to  the  exact  dividing-line  where  the  two 
great  empires  meet  ;  but  immediately  troops  are  seen 
where  people  believe  the  dividing -line  to  be,  there 
flashes  throughout  the  provinces  the  report  that  the 

418 


MILITARY    PROGRESS    IN    CHINA. 

British  are  in  Yiin-nan,  that  war  is  expected,  that  the 
foreigners  who  reside  in  the  interior  cities  must  be  killed, 
so  that  China  may  in  this  "  get  her  own  back  " ;  and 
so  millions  of  the  common  people  are  immediately  up 
in  arms  against  foreigners  in  general  because  of  the 
crass  ignorance  of  China's  population  concerning  their 
own  political  standing  with  other  nations.* 

*  The  Pienma  affair  took  place  after  this  chapter  was"written. 
and  bears  out  m  some  measure  fears  herein  expressed. — E.  J.  D.j 


419 


APPENDIX    G. 


PEEPS    INTO    YiJN-NAN    HISTORY. 

The  province  of  Yiin-nan  previous  to  the  year  a.d. 
1259  "^'^s  ruled  by  native  princes  of  Hindu  origin. 

Few  foreigners  had  come  into  Yiin-nan  before  1876, 
the  year  that  Margary  of  H.B.M.  Consular  Service  was 
murdered  at  Manyiien.  In  the  same  year  Messrs.  J. 
W.  Stevenson  and  H.  Soltau,  of  the  China  Inland 
Mission,  entered  from  the  Burma  side,  but  were  not 
allowed  to  cross  ;  but  in  the  following  year  Rev.  J, 
McCarthy,  also  of  the  China  Inland  Mission  (who  is  still 
labouring  in  this  province),  was  able  to  pass  through 
Yiin-nan  and  reached  Burma  in  safety,  with  the  result 
that  in  1881  the  first  Protestant  mission  station  was 
opened  at  Tali-fu  by  Mr.  G.  Clarke.  In  1884  traces  of 
the  Mohammedan  Rebellion  were  to  be  seen  on  every 
hand,  and  many  of  the  streets  in  the  capital  of  Yiin-nan 
were  very  poor,  with  but  little  business  being  done. 
Few  foreign  things  were  seen,  with  the  exception 
of  foreign  prints,  calicoes  and  matches.  Even  a 
Szech'wanese  who  had  opened  a  shop  for  the  cleaning 
of  watches  was  somewhat  of  a  curiosity,  and  a  foreigner 
was  followed  everywhere  by  a  large  number  of  curious 
people. 

The  missionary  resident  at  Yiin-nan-fu  at  this  time 
was^annoyed  by  thousands  of  people  surrounding  his 
house  and  threatening  to  turn  him  adrift  and  pillage 
his  house.  The  landlord  got  excited,  and  endeavoured 
to  induce  the  foreigner  to  leave,  but  he  having  once 
been  bitten  refused  to  move.  People  stood  aloof 
from  him,  and  it  was  not  until  he  had  invited  thirty 
people  to  come  and  teach  him  the  language  that  he 
could  get  a  man  to  risk  taking  on  the  job.  A  Szech- 
wanese  came  subsequently,  who  knew  that  the  mission- 
ary was  a  man  who  exhorted  the  people  to  be  good ; 
but  fearing  that  he  would  be  bewitched,  refused  to  drink 


420 


PEEPS    INTO    YUN-NAN    HISTORY. 

the  foreigner's  tea,  until  one  summer  morning  he 
ventured  to  take  a  Httle  hot  water — and  afterwards 
drank  the  tea  !  Later  on  in  this  year  war  broke  out 
in  the  south  with  the  French.  The  Viceroy  Ts'eng, 
who  came  into  the  province  as  a  semi-official  during 
the  Mohammedan  Rebellion,  and  who  was  so  successful 
in  quelling  that  trouble,  was  now  the  chief  official, 
having  risen  rapidly  through  uncommon  force  of 
character.  He  was  exceedingly  blood-thirsty.  It  is 
reported  that  he  would  go  himself  and  cut  off  the  heads 
of  any  rebels  who  had  been  captured  the  day  previous. 
On  another  occasion,  when  a  large  number  of  Moham- 
medans surrendered  themselves,  he  spread  a  feast  in 
their  honour,  gave  them  a  good  feed,  and  whilst  they 
were  eating,  the  imperial  troops  were  brought  in  and 
cut  them  down  like  grass  before  the  scythe.  He 
invited  the  famous  traitor  Ma,  the  Mohammedan  general, 
to  dine  with  him,  omitting  to  inform  his  cook,  and  when 
that  culinary  official  prepared  the  Chinese  delicacy, 
pork,  would  have  had  him  killed  at  once  for  the  insult 
his  guest  had  suffered  had  not  Ma  pleaded  very  ear- 
nestly on  the  cook's  behalf.  This  man  even  refused 
to  recognise  his  own  mother  in  the  street  on  one 
occasion  when  she  touched  his  chair. 

Being  fond  of  warfare,  Ts'eng  left  the  city  of  Yiin-nan- 
fu  for  Tonkin.  His  bravery  inspired  the  people,  and 
it  was  thought  that  success  with  the  Mohammedans 
would  have  been  repeated  with  the  French,  but  he 
found  that  he  held  a  different  position.  The  odds  were 
against  him,  although  he  had  some  victories.  He 
succeeded,  too,  in  capturing  some  French  regimentals, 
the  owners  of  which  he  had  killed  and  hung  up 
outside  the  viceregal  yamen,  declaring  that  if  he 
returned  to  the  capital  he  would  serve  all  foreign 
devils  in  the  same  way.  Much  unrest  followed. 
Poor  Romanist  converts  were  slain,  and  the  priests 
had  to  flee  for  their  lives  to  the  hills,  hiding  for 
weeks  in  the  mountains.  For  four  months  everything 
was  dark,  rumour  followed  rumour,  threat  followed 
threat,  increasing  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  When 
peace  was  proclaimed,  one  felt  that  he  could  breathe 
more  freely ;  but  one  day  whilst  walking  through  the 
town  a  foreigner  unexpectedly  met  a  sedan-chair, 
carried  by  eight  men,  and  as  it  passed  he  met  the  eyes 
of  the  occupant.     It  was  the  Viceroy.     No  wondei  that 


421 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

a  cold  [shiver  ran  through  the  Westerner.  The  dis- 
banded troops,  not  having  enough  money  to  pay  their 
expenses,  plundered  everywhere,  and  organised  raids 
against  the  villages.  All  foreigners  were  looked  upon 
as  French,  and  were  subject  to  the  common  insults. 

In  1887  the  first  telegraph  line  was  laid  down  by 
Mr.  Chr.  Jensen.  This  also  gave  rise  to  many  wild 
rumours.  Foreigners  were  accused  of  having  cut  off 
the  breasts  of  women,  the  queues  of  men  and  boys, 
the  wings  of  fowls  (strange  combination),  and  so 
frightened  were  the  people  that  those  who  had  fallen 
victims  to  the  faction  of  the  mob  who  cut  off  the 
queues  very  soon  died.  The  people  got  very  alarmed. 
The  Viceroy  offered  a  reward  for  information  as  to  who 
the  culprit  was.  A  Taoist  priest  was  subsequently 
accused,  condemned  and  beheaded. 

Towards  the  end  of  1887  a  local  rebellion  broke  out 
in  the  west  of  the  province  among  the  aborigines,  but 
although  the  report  had  it  that  two  thousand  were 
killed  and  wounded,  I  do  not  think  that  there  were  more 
than  perhaps  two  hundred.  The  chief  was  brought  to 
the  capital  and  beheaded,  and  afterwards  his  son,  a  mere 
lad,  was  brought  before  the  Viceroy,  taken  in  a  chair 
outside  the  city,  and  there  shot  dead.  Other  rebellions 
of  a  like  nature  in  the  province  were  quelled  by  this  man, 
who  seemed  to  fear  no  one,  whose  memory  has  always 
been  revered  by  the  Yiin-nanese  for  having  saved  them 
from  the  hands  of  the  Mohammedans,  and  whose 
image  to-day  is  to  be  found  in  two  separate  positions 
in  the  capital  deified  among  the  great. 

In  1898  Yiin-nan-fu  was  robbed  of  the  privilege  of 
the  residence  of  the  Viceroy.  This  resulted  in  many 
losing  regular  employment  in  the  viceregal  office, 
which  was  looked  upon  as  an  evil  omen,  and  incited 
the  people  to  great  indignation,  the  foreigners  being 
supposed  to  be  responsible  for  the  change.  In  the 
following  year  the  populace  became  more  incensed 
against  the  European,  and  began  in  earnest  to  do  what 
they  said  they  would  do.  At  Mengtsz,  in  the  middle 
of  the  night,  an  attack  v/as  made  upon  the  foreign 
settlement  outside  the  city,  and  foreigners  only  made 
their  escape  Vvith  difficulty.  An  American,  the  Com- 
missioner of  Customs,  had  a  beautiful  home  reduced 
to  a  heap  of  rubbish.  The  French  were  at  this  time 
engaged  in  the  survey  of  the  new  railway,  and  occupied 

422 


PEEPS    INTO    YUN-NAN    HISTORY. 

rooms  in  the  chief  temple  at  Yiin-nan-fu.  They  used 
some  of  the  side  rooms  as  stables,  such  desecration 
being  looked  upon  by  the  people  as  something  quite 
unpardonable.  These  surveyors  were  driven  away. 
During  this  year  British  officers  visited  the  province, 
making  surveys  for  the  much-talked-of  Burma-Yiin-nan 
Railway.  They  travelled  far  and  wide,  and  every- 
where behaved  in  such  a  gentlemanly  manner  as  to 
give  no  offence  whatever. 

The   year   igoo  was   a  memorable   one  throughout 
China.    When  the  people  saw  from  their  calendars  that 
there  were  eight  moons,  one  intercalary,  they  began  to  be 
suspicious,  fearing  that  some  calamity  would  assuredly 
befall  them.     In  the  month  of  May  some  misunder- 
standing   arose    between    the    French    and    the    local 
authorities  regarding  the  importation  of  some  foreign 
goods  which  the  Customs  refused  to  allow  past  the 
barrier.     The  people  seemed  bent  on  mischief.     Tension 
was  so  great  that  some  of  the  French  residents  decided 
to   leave.     June   loth   was   the   day   fixed,    but   their 
baggage,  which  was  sent  by  horse  caravan,  had  scarcely 
left  Yii-nan-fu  before  their  boxes  were  all  ransacked. 
The  mob  then  rushed  into  the  city  and  made  for  the 
Roman  Catholic  premises  and  the  house  of  the  Bible 
Christian  Mission,  plundering  and  looting  as  they  went. 
The  Romanists  took  refuge  in  the  French  Consulate, 
and  the  Bible  Christians  in  the  district    magistrate's 
residence.     When  the  mob  reached  the  China  Inland 
Mission  premises,  three  military  officials  had  already 
arrived   with  two   or  three   hundred  soldiers.     Three 
days  were  the  missionaries  besieged,  suffering  consider- 
able anxiety  and  fear,  and  were  much  disturbed  when 
one  of  the  invading  party  managed  to  enter  the  premises. 
He   was,   however,   beheaded.     Another  fellow,  found 
carrying    foreign    goods    near    the    Roman    Catholic 
premises,   was   beheaded  on  the  spot.     During  these 
three  days  six  places  occupied  by  foreigners  had  been 
looted,  and  two  fired,  but  not  a  single  foreigner  had 
been  hurt,  although  some  of  them  had  been  only  able 
to  escape  with  merely  the  clothes  they  were  wearing. 
One  mother,  with  a  baby  only  six  weeks  old,  had  to 
make  her  escape   without  even  getting  a  change  of 
linen  for  her  infant.     The  trouble  in  the  north  of  the 
empire  increased  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  and  the 
officials,  after  a  good  deal  of  persuasion,  felt  that  it 

423 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

was  best  for  all  foreigners  to  leave  the  city.  This  they 
did  on  July  17th,  being  accompanied  by  a  large  body 
of  military.  The  Protestant  missionaries  returned  to 
recommence  their  work  on  August  14th,  1901. 

In  the  following  year  the  rebellious  spirit  among  the 
people  was  still  rife,  and  in  the  south  three  walled  towns 
were  captured  and  held  for  a  time,  and  scarcely  a  year 
has  passed  since  but  what  the  people  have  risen  in 
some  part  of  the  province. 

Under  such  conditions  it  is  extremely  difHcult  for 
missionaries  to  accomplish  successful  work.* 

*  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Owen  S.  Stevenson,  of  the  China  Inland 
Mission,  for  the  above.  Mr.  Stevenson  has  resided  in  Yiin-nan-fu 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century. 


424 


APPENDIX    H. 


THE    FRENCH    IN    YUN-NAN. 

In  days  of  recent  history  one  has  heard  a  good  deal 
about  the  work  the  French  are  achieving  in  the  province 
of  Yiin-nan.  But  foreign  Governments  are  apt  to  be 
left  entirely  unimpressed  by  the  fact  that  but  seldom 
does  reliable  information  regarding  their  reforms 
simmer  through  to  the  European  press.  It  is  a  fact  that 
cannot  be  overlooked,  however,  that  France,  in  her 
quest  for  empire  in  the  East — and  especially  in  her 
desire  for  the  extension  of  Indo-China — has  in  a  manner 
set  her  heart  upon  Yiin-nan.  She  has  always  done  so, 
as  everyone  remembers.  And  she  had  cause  to  regret 
that  her  preparations  for  defence  against  the  Chinese 
were  not  complete  when  the  altercation  took  place  in 
the  early  eighties. 

As  protectors  of  Roman  Catholic  Missions  in  the  Far 
East,  the  French  Government  in  1884  obtained  a  pretext 
for  interfering  in  the  affairs  of  Annam,  and  in  that  year 
the  king  of  that  country  was  obliged  to  cede  Cochin- 
China  to  France.  And  then,  after  the  Franco-Prussian 
War,  when  the  French  entered  upon  a  policy  of  extending 
their  colonial  possessions,  they  became  desirous  of 
annexing  Tonkin  northwards,  as  in  that  way  they 
v/ould  be  able  to  tap  the  vast  resources  of  Yiin-nan. 
Tonkin,  which  for  centuries  had  been  a  vassal  kingdom 
in  China,  appealed  to  the  latter  for  protection.  In 
1884,  it  may  be  remembered,  the  French  threatened 
Sontay  and  Bacninh,  and  notwithstanding  the  protests 
of  the  Chinese,  proceeded  to  occupy  them.  Neither 
country  was  anxious  for  war  ;  negotiations  followed, 
and  the  result  was  that  it  was  agreed  that  China  was 
to  cede  Langson  and  some  other  places  to  France, 
and  that  in  return  France  would  respect  China's 
southern  boundary.  Owing  to  misunderstanding,  when 
French  troops  came  to  take  possession,   the  Chinese 

425 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

garrison  refused  to  evacuate.  Hostilities,  which  those 
who  have  watched  China  since  then  remember  so  well, 
took  place. 

There  had  been  no  formal  declaration  of  war,  and 
Admiral  Courbet,  of  the  French  Navy,  sailed  with  his 
fleet  unopposed  past  the  Chinese  fleets  and  forts  into 
the  mouth  of  the  Min  River  at  Foochow.  Then,  without 
warning,  he  suddenly  opened  iire  on  the  forts  and  the 
Chinese  ships  as  they  lay  at  anchor.  The  Chinese 
were  unable  to  make  any  resistance ;  their  forts  were 
injured,  and  many  of  their  ships  destroyed.  War 
dragged  on  in  a  desultory  manner,  and  on  land  the 
Chinese  gained  some  successes  over  the  French  troops. 
At  length  peace  was  declared  in  June,  1885,  by  the  terms 
of  which  China  gave  up  all  claim  to  Tonkin,  while  the 
French  promised  to  respect  China's  southern  frontier. 

The  above  is  a  brief  resume  of  the  position  between 
the  two  countries.  The  French  people  in  Yiin-nan-fu 
now  like  to  forget  the  episode  equally  as  much  as  the 
Chinese,  for  they  are  certainly  far  better  prepared  to 
withstand  any  oppression  from  the  Chinese.  The 
progress  that  Yiin-nan  has  made  during  the  years 
elapsing  has  been  little  short  of  phenomenal,  and  she 
would  also  fain  forget  her  antiquated  condition  at 
that  time. 

And  while  things  go  along  peaceably  in  the  province 
and  just  over  the  borders,  the  Chinese  do  not  forget 
that  the  pet  ambition  of  France  still  is  to  take  Yiin-nan 
as  French  territory  ;  but  China  is  determined  that 
Yiin-nan  is  Chinese,  and  that  Chinese  it  shall  remain. 
French  and  Chinese  punctiliousness  and  politeness 
everywhere  synchronise,  but  underljdng  the  Chinese 
mind  there  is  a  distinct  antagonism  to  the  Frenchman 
as  compared  with  the  feeling  towards  an  Englishman. 
None  of  the  French  residents  of  the  capital,  although 
they  are  inx'ited  out  by  the  mandarins  and  made  at 
times  a  good  deal  of  fuss  of,  could  say  that  anything 
approaching  mutual  friendliness  exists.  China  submits 
because  she  must.  But  will  she  always  ?  She  does  not 
openly  dwell  upon  the  past,  but  it  seems  to  be  her  only 
guide  for  the  future.  And  it  seems  that  China  is  telling 
France  that  unless  she  will  realise  the  truth,  unless  she 
will  learn  that  the  profound  opposition  between  the 
respective  civilisations  no  more  justifies  France  in  treat- 
ing the  Chinese  as  barbarians  than  they  the  French 

426 


THE    FRENCH    IN    YUN-NAN 

unless  the  Chinese  are  to  be  treated  as  a  civilised  power 
and  have  respect  given  to  her  customs  and  her  laws, 
unless  France  will  accord  China  the  treatment  she  would 
accord  to  any  European  nation  and  refrain  from 
exacting  conditions  she  would  never  dream  of  imposing 
on  a  western  power — unless  she  will  do  this,  there  can 
be  no  hope  of  permanent  peace  between  the  two 
countries. 

With  mere  protest,  however,  China  is  not  content.  She 
is  making  preparations  to  be  in  a  position  to  be  able 
successfully  to  defend  Yiin-nan  in  time  of  emergency. 
Go  any  day  you  wish  over  the  roads  leading  into  the 
capital,  and  you  will  find  string  after  string  of  pack- 
horses  laden  with  foreign  ammunition  and  rifles.  In  my 
tramp  from  Chung-king,  the  uppermost  port  of  the 
Yangtze,  to  Yiin-nan-fu,  a  distance  of  nearly  nine 
hundred  miles,  I  was  never  out  of  sight  of  this  new 
military  equipment.  And  it  is  all  for  the  specific 
purpose  of  keeping  the  French  out  of  Yiin-nan. 

However,  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  French  people 
are  not  making  headway  in  Yiin-nan-fu  ;  they  decidedly 
are.  The  hospital  is  French,  the  city  post  office 
handling  most  of  the  mail  matter  is  French,  the 
hotels  are  French,  the  only  foreign  emporiums  are 
French,  and,  as  follows,  most  of  the  foreign  residents 
are  French.  The  missionaries  and  the  Consul-General 
are  about  the  only  Britishers  in  the  place.  Almost 
without  a  single  exception  the  foreign  goods  obtainable 
in  the  Chinese  shops  are  French.  The  French  consulate 
is  a  palatial  building  with  one  hundred  and  twenty 
rooms  and  spacious  grounds  ;  the  British  consulate  is 
a  tumbledown  resurrected  Chinese  house.  The  French 
Consul-General  has  with  him  a  Vice-Consul  and  an  appro- 
priate staff  ;  the  British  Consul-General  lives  in  almost 
solitary  confinement,  among  none  of  his  own  kith  and 
kin.  Whatever  foreign  trade  is  developed  France  has 
secured.  Britain  is  too  late,  and  it  seems  she  cannot 
now  do  much — there  are  no  British  traders  there  to  do 
it.  And  with  the  railway,  if  she  acts  diplomatically, 
France  may  yet  do  more,  and  in  some  measure  attain  her 
ends  in  securing  a  share  of  the  wealth  of  the  province. 
But  the  territory,  in  my  opinion,  never.  This  is  too 
great  an  ambition. 

To  obtain  a  share  in  the  wealth  of   the  province 
is,  however,  a  great  purpose  to  pursue.     For  Yiin-nan, 


427 


ACROSS    CHINA   ON    FOOT. 

although  very  mountainous,  is  rich  in  minerals,  of  which 
the  following  are  known  to  exist  :  cinnabar,  coal, 
copper,  gold,  iron,  lead,  orpiment,  salt,  tin  and  zinc. 
The  mining  industry  was  severely  crippled  by  the 
Pathay  Rebellion  ;  but  prior  to  that  date,  although  iron 
ore  is  most  abundant,  copper  was  mined  on  a  much 
larger  scale  in  order  to  provide  for  the  requirements 
of  the  Empire,  which  formerly  were  almost  entirely 
dependent  upon  the  Yiin-nan  mines  for  their  needs, 
which  may  be  put  at  about  6,000  tons  annually. 
Argentiferous  lead  ranks  next  in  importance,  of  which 
over  twenty  mines  were  known.  Tin  comes  from 
Kochiu,  about  twenty  miles  from  the  French  port  of 
^lengtsz,  and  about  5,000  tons  are  exported  annually. 
Coal  has  not  yet  been  mined  to  any  extent.  So  that 
there  is  plenty  of  scope  for  the  French  in  the  direction 
of  mining  alone. 

It  is  argued  that  the  railway  will  do  much  to  open 
up  that  part  of  the  province  which  now  and  since  the 
beginning  of  time  has  had  all  its  products  carried 
either  on  the  backs  of  men  or  of  horses.  The  water- 
ways are  unavailable  for  transport  within  the  province, 
acting  with  their  rather  deep  valleys  as  barriers  to 
trade  ;  and  the  paucity  of  the  population  forbids  in 
some  places  the  use  of  these  human  porters,  making  the 
pack-mule  and  horse  the  sole  agency  of  transportation. 
The  water  outlets  from  the  province  begins  only  on  its 
borders,  and  those  available  for  the  major  operations 
of  trade  are  three  :  the  Red  River,  from  the  southern 
border  into  Tonkin,  to  be  supplemented  by  the  railway 
to  Yiin-nan-fu,  the  provincial  capital ;  the  Si  kiang  (or 
West  River),  from  the  eastern  border,  leading  to 
Canton  and  Hong-Kong ;  and  the  Yangtze,  from 
the  northern  border,  leading  down  to  Hankow  and 
Shanghai. 


428 


APPENDIX    J. 


BUDDHISM    AND    ROMAN    CATHOLICISM. 

Buddhism,  as  one  meets  it  in  China,  bears  a  marked 
resemblance  to  Roman  Catholicism,  or  vice  versa. 
Romanism  may  be  a  sort  of  Buddhism  prepared  for  the 
foreign  market. 

In  his  excellent  work.  The  Dragon,  Image  and  Demon, 
Mr.  H.  C.  DuBose  deals  exhaustively  with  Chinese 
Buddhism,  and  the  following  facts  are  culled  there- 
from to  demonstrate  the  common  points  about  the  two 
religions  : — 

i. — In  both  these  systems  it  is  a  worship  of 
pictures  and  images,  the  worship  of  the  seen.  As 
has  been  said  to  the  author,  "  Hang  up  a  picture  of 
your  Jesus,  and  there  will  be  a  thousand  of  us  to 
worship  it  in  a  day."  In  the  cathedrals  they  bow 
before  each  of  the  pictures  hanging  around  the  hall, 
and  suspended  to  the  girdle  (in  bronze  or  wood)  is 
the  Son  of  Mary. 

ii. — Both  pray  in  an  unknown  tongue,  the 
Romanists  in  Latin  and  the  Buddhists  in  Sanscrit. 

iii. — Both  systems  use  candles  and  incense.  The 
Catholics  say  that  they  do  not  use  "  tallow  candles," 
but  "  angel  candles,"  i.e.  sperm  candles. 

iv. — The  two  religions  are  alike  in  having  masses 
for  the  dead — purgatories  from  which  souls  may  be 
released  by  the  prayers  of  the  priests. 

V. — Rosaries.  Both  the  Buddhists  and  the 
Romanists  count  their  beads. 

vi. — The  vain  repetitions.  The  substitute  for  Ave 
Maria  is  0  Me  To  Fiih. 

vii. — The  celibacy  of  the  clergy. 

viii. — Nuns  and  nunneries. 


429 


ACROSS   CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

ix. — The  adoration  of  relics.  The  Indian  reUgion 
has  paid  no  more  distinguished  honour  to  Buddha's 
bones  than  Rome  has  given  to  St.  Peter's. 

X. — Both  rehgions  are  based  on  systems  of  merit,  on 
penance  and  works  of  supererogation. 

xi. — Priests  from  India  and  France  both  adopt 
the  heathen  rites  of  the  Chinese.  The  proofs  in  regard 
to  the  former  country  are  scattered  through  the 
author's  work.  As  to  the  latter,  on  a  Cathohc  altar 
in  Shanghai  the  dragon  and  the  cross  are  united.  It 
is  according  to  the  Chinese  ideas  to  worship  the 
Mother  of  Jesus,  but  why  not  the  Father  ?  To  meet 
this  the  Pope  has  made  Joseph  the  patron  of  China, 
and  on  the  scrolls  he  is  designated  "  The  third  man," 
i.e.  Jesus,  Mary,  Joseph. 

xii. — Pretended  miracles.  The  priests  of  Rome  claim 
miraculous  cures,  and  pretend  to  be  exorcists. 

xiii. — As  Rome  spends  her  tens  of  thousands  on 
processions,  so  does  Buddhism. 

xiv. — The  worship  of  saints.  "  Chinese  demigods 
are  exchanged  for  foreign  saints,  with  this  difference, 
that  now  they  worship  they  know  not  what,  while 
before  they  knew  something  of  the  name  and 
I,  character  of  the  ancient  hero  from  popular  accounts 
and  historical  legends." 

XV. — Flower  worship  is  the  ornate  feature  of  each 
religion.  The  altars  are  alike  decorated  with  beau- 
teous wreaths  and  bouquets  of  sweetest  perfume, 
the  woods  and  the  gardens  supplying  what  is  lacking 
in  the  heart  of  the  worshipper. 

xvi. — Mary,  the  holy  Mother,  finds  her  counter- 
part in  Kwan-ln,  the  Goddess  of  Mercy.  (See  Note 
on  page  304.) 

Let  the  reader  judge   for  himself  as   to  the  close 
similarity  between  the  two  religions. 


I  have  known  of  Roman  Catholic  churches  in  China 
where  the  figure  of  the  Virgin  Mary  has  been  identical 
to  that  of  Kwan-in  in  the  Chinese  temple. — E.  J.  D. 


430 


APPENDIX    K. 


COPPER      COINAGE— VARIATIONS      OF      THE 
LOWLY    "CASH." 

Coinage,  weights  and  measures  in  China  are  be- 
wildering. 

There  are  certain  preliminary  steps  which  China 
must  take  before  the  development  of  any  complete 
system  for  universal  reform  may  be  accomplished,  and 
among  the  first  certainly  ranks  the  establishment  of 
uniform  and  invariable  systems  of  coinage,  weights  and 
measures.  Anyone  in  the  Empire  or  out  of  it  with  any 
knowledge  upon  the  subject  is  ready  to  admit  that, 
although  the  confusion  of  the  currency  is  all  in  the 
interests  of  bankers  and  money-changers  trained  in 
their  profession  for  centuries,  to  the  foreigner  it  is  all 
nothing  but  chaos.  The  lack  of  uniformity  makes 
extortion  and  injustice  easy,  keeps  the  finances  in  a 
chronic  condition  of  disorder  and  scantiness,  and  tends 
to  hopeless  inefficiency  and  rampant  corruption  in 
almost  every  branch  of  Government  service  and  in 
commercial  circles. 

But  the  utter  absence  of  any  pretence  at  uniformity 
in  these  matters  is  realised  at  no  other  time  quite  so 
keenly  as  in  travelling  in  this  country,  for  it  is  possible 
to  gain  but  a  vague  and  probably  incorrect  idea  at  the 
treaty  ports  of  the  Empire,  which  the  foreigner  generally 
visits,  of  the  currency  as  it  affects  the  people  in  bulk. 
In  travelling  from  Shanghai  to  Bhamo — overland,  of 
course,  from  Chung-king  at  the  head  of  the  Yangtze — 
the  author  had  the  following  experience  in  small 
exchanges  of  dohars.     I  do  not  speak  of  silver  bullion. 

To  Ichang  no  difficulty  was  experienced,  but  thence 
onward  changing  money  was  nothing  short  of  a  gamble 
and  a  barter.  Ichang  was  giving  1,380  cash  to  the  dollar, 
which  at  Chung-king  and  places  up  the  river  was  worth 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

the  bare  thousand.  From  here  to  Sui-fu  I  gradually  lost, 
and  one  place  was  as  low  as  875.  Sui-fu  was  normal. 
I  gradually  lost  between  Sui-fu  and  Chao-t'ong,  where 
small  cash,  containing  many  spurious  coins,  came  into 
use  and  exchanged  at  2,000  to  2,500  to  the  dollar. 
Between  Chao-t'ong-fu  and  Tong-ch'uan-fu  I  received 
1,100  to  1,300,  and  the  following  table  will  show  the 
variations  of  cash  exchanges  to  the  tael  across  the  pro- 
vince of  I'iin-nan  (the  dollar  is  seven-tenths  of  a  tael):  — 


Tong-ch'uan-fu    . 

2,000  at  the  rat 

e  of  95  to  the  : 

[00 

Kongshan     . . 

•     1,700     , 

,       93     ..      . 

Yang-kai 

.     2,000     , 

.       91 

Yiin-nan-fu 

.     1,600     , 

Anning-cheo 

.     1,700     , 

'.      92 

Lu-feng-hsien 

.     2,000     , 

,      86 

Ch'u-hsiong-fu     . 

.     2,000     , 

,      80 

Liiho-kai 

.     1,860     , 

,      90 

Sha-chiao-kai 

•     1,400     , 

,      90 

Hungay 

.     1,750     , 

.      93 

Tali-fu 

,     1,800     , 

.      95 

Hsiakwan     . . 

.     1,870     , 

>      95 

Hwan-lien-p'u 

.     1,550     , 

.      98 

Ch'u-tung     . . 

.     1,600     , 

.      98 

Yung-ch'ang-fu  , 

.     1,800     , 

,      90 

Tengyueh     . . 

.     1,550     , 

,       88 

At  some  places  where  the  small  cash  is  in  vogue 
occasional  yamen  notices  are  issued  fixing  the  rate  of 
exchange,  and  prohibiting  the  circulation  of  the  spurious 
coins  ;  but  gradually,  owing  to  the  roguery  everywhere 
practised,  the  bad  cash  comes  in  again,  and  so  the 
number  to  the  dollar  increases. 

The  latest  issue  of  token  coinage,  the  copper  cent, 
in  many  places  was  not  recognised,  and  I  could  not  get 
the  people  to  accept  them  under  any  circumstances. 
This  coin  was  issued  to  supply  a  real  deficiency  in  the 
circulating  medium,  due  to  extensive  melting  down 
of  the  regular  coinage  and  the  impossibility  of  the 
Government  supplying  the  wastage.  It  is  a  close 
imitation  of  the  Hong-Kong  cent,  y^T^th  of  a  silver 
dollar,  and  bears  the  fable,  "  Represents  ten  cash," 
excepting  in  Kwantung.  But  even  where  the  dollar 
was  worth  1,500  we  could  not  get  even  the  inscribed 
ten  cash,  let  alone  the  fifteen  which  should  have  been 


432 


COPPER    COINAGE. 

current.  Such,  however,  is  the  ignorance  of  the  people 
in  the  interior  of  a  coin  which  has  been  in  circulation 
for  several  years.  Money  could  not  be  exchanged  at 
all  in  some  places,  and  we  had  to  do  what  the  average 
foreigner  under  ordinary  conditions  would  naturally 
object  to  do,  and  that  was  to  carry  around  twelve 
pounds  of  cash  as  the  only  fractional  equivalent  of  a 
silver  dollar  to  which  one  was  accustomed. 

The  above  are  every-day  examples  of  the  extreme 
fluctuation  in  the  copper  coinage,  and  the  difficulty  of 
exchanging  the  copper  nearly  all  over  the  empire  into 
the  currency  in  which  the  daily  transactions  of  four 
hundred  and  thirty  millions  are  carried  on ;  and  it  is, 
indeed,  filthy  lucre.  Extraordinarily  voracious  are 
the  people  of  China  in  their  consumption  of  cash.  But 
it  is  not  easy  to  get  statistics.  In  1831  the  total  issued 
by  the  sixteen  mints  of  the  Empire  was  886,167,000, 
and  in  1865  ^lo  less  than  2,450,663,537.  Of  the  cents 
it  is  estimated  that  12,500,000,000  were  issued  up  to 
the  end  of  1906,  and  it  appears  probable  that  one-third 
of  these  came  from  the  Hupeh  mint. 

Hupeh,  perhaps  of  all  the  eighteen  provinces  of 
China,  is  renowned  for  its  variety  of  exchange.  It  is 
within  the  recollection  of  the  writer  that  at  Wusueh 
the  nominal  100  was  for  a  long  time  worth  97  in  actual 
cash,  98  at  Lung-p'ing  (ten  miles  away),  97  or  96 
in  different  classes  of  transactions  at  Hsing-kau  (ninety 
miles  away),  and  99  at  Chi-chou  (the  same  distance  in 
another  direction).  At  the  mint  the  copper  pieces  were 
sold  at  98,  100  copper  pieces  equalling  a  thousand  cash, 
reckoned  at  98  to  the  100,  so  that  when  paying  a 
hundred  cash  one  paid  ten  pieces,   and  when  paying 

99  or  98  one  also  paid  ten  pieces.  Chi-chou  banks 
issued  one  hundred  copper  pieces  for  a  cash  bill  of 
1,000  cash,  thus  saving  money  on  the  transaction,  as 
they  bought  the  pieces  at  Wuchang  at  98  and  paid  them 
out  instead  of  a  thousand  copper  cash  at  99.  Lung- 
p'ing  secured  no  gains.  Wusueh  banks  pondered,  for 
if  the}^  bought  the  copper  pieces  at  98  and  then  gave 

100  for  the  bill  in  a  place  where  the  rate  was  97,  they 
would  lose  ten  cash  on  every  hundred.  They  therefore 
decided  to  take  one  coin  out  of  each  packet  they  got 
from  the  mint.  Had  they  stopped  here  all  would 
have  gone  smoothly,  for  the  shopkeepers  would 
have  deducted  one  cash  from  each  ten  copper  piece 


433 
29 


APPENDIX. 

which  they  gave  out,   and  no   one  would  have   lost 
anything. 

But  the  old-time  custom  allowed  the  banks  to  charge 
two  cash  for  the  piece  of  string  on  which  the  cash  were 
threaded,  and  the  banks  did  not  like  to  yield  this 
squeeze,  so  they  proceeded  to  take  a  second  copper 
piece  out  of  each  packet  from  the  mint  and  put  eight 
cash  back,  thus  getting  the  two  cash  for  the  string  they 
no  longer  provided.  The  shopkeepers  naturally 
objected,  for  they  could  not  divide  up  two  cash  among 
a  hundred  coins.  If  they  allowed  the  deduction,  the 
loss  of  the  two  cash  must  inevitably  fall  upon  the  man 
who  broke  the  parcel  of  copper  pieces.  The  result  was 
that  the  matter  was  referred  to  the  officials,  and  after 
plea  and  counter-plea  the  shopkeepers  won.  By 
proclamation  the  rate  was  fixed  at  98  to  the  hundred 
at  Wusueh. 

This,  however,  is  in  civilised  Hupeh.  Conditions  are 
far  worse  in  more  outlying  provinces. 

As  an  example,  in  Tong-ch'uan-fu  and  many  places  in 
Yiin-nan  there  is  the  "  dzuh,"  meaning  full  cash,  100  to 
the  100  ;  this  may  be  clean,  or  may  have  a  few  spurious 
coin.  Then  follows  the  "  djing,"  meaning  clean  cash, 
ranging  from  the  current  rate  of  the  city  to  the  full 
100.  Then  comes  "  kiai  shin,"  which  is  the  street  cash, 
good,  bad  and  indifferent.  And  one  has  to  be  resident 
here  many  years  before  he.  can  stand  side  by  side 
with  the  ordinary  Chinese  and  feel  that  he  is  not  being 
"  done." 

At  the  top  of  China's  currency  stands  the  tael,  in 
which  payments  are  made  in  precisely  the  same  way 
as  delivery  is  taken  of  a  lot  of  silver  bars.  Then  comes 
the  dollar — which  though  a  coin,  is  not  universal  legal 
tender — seventy-two  hundredths  of  a  tael  (in  most 
parts  of  Yiin-nan  only  seventy  hundredths) ;  but  though 
inscribed,  it  is  quoted  at  rates  which  vary  considerably, 
fluctuating  sometimes  to  as  much  as  six  or  more  per 
cent.  Then  come  subsidiary  silver  coins  fractional  to 
the  dollar ;  then  the  copper  cent,  inscribed  at  the 
mints  of  some  provinces  as  worth  "  one-hundredth  of 
a  dollar,"  and  of  others  as  worth  "  ten  cash,"  but 
never  treated  as  correlated  to  the  dollar,  whether  con- 
sidered in  its  relation  to  the  dollar  or  to  the  cash. 

Last  comes  the  copper  cash,  the  coin  of  the  people. 
Some  aver  that  China  must  take  her  fundamental  coin. 


434 


COPPER    COINAGE. 

the  cash,  with  a  present-day  value  of  the  ten-thousandth 
part  of  the  pound  sterling,  and  build  upon  it.  This 
seems  the  natural  course  to  those  who  consider  first 
the  well-being  of  her  patient,  industrious  people,  whose 
householders  maintain  their  families  on  6d.  a  day,  and 
are  now  able  with  the  aid  of  the  humble  cash  to  maintain 
them  in  comparative  comfort.  The  proletariat  remains 
neutral  upon  the  great  question  ;  but  the  merest  coolie,' 
earning  less  than  6d.  by  a  long  day  of  hard  work, 
will  spend  an  hour  of  his  time  to  gain  in  exchange  the 
equivalent  of  ten  minutes'  work.* 

*  Those  who  are  interested  in  the  currency  of  China  are 
advised  to  refer  to  H.  B.  Morse's  excellent  book,  entitled  Trade 
and  Administration  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  from  which  I  have 
got  a  good  deal  of  the  information  embodied  in  the  foregoing.  _ 


435 


APPENDIX    L. 


ANTI-FOOTBINDING   CAMPAIGN   IN   WESTERN 
CHINA. 

Among  the  main  adjuncts  making  for  the  uphfting 
of  woman  throughout  China  must  be  mentioned  the 
project  for  the  establishment  of  universal  unbinding  of 
the  feet.  This  is,  of  course,  in  direct  antagonism  to  a 
fashion,  opposition  to  which  not  long  ago  on  the  part  of 
any  family  would  have  resulted  in  their  being  socially 
ostracised  and  debarred  decent  matches  for  their 
daughters.  Whatever  other  provinces  may  be  doing, 
it  seems  that  in  certain  parts  of  Szech'wan  and  Yiin-nan 
the  movement  has  gained  some  popularity. 

So  few  foreigners  have  an  opportunity  of  mixing 
intimately  with  the  natives  in  these  provinces  that  the 
terrible  evils  attending  this  abominable  practice  seldom 
come  home  to  one,  and  by  those  living  in  such  places  as 
Shanghai  and  Hong-Kong  it  is  hardly  noticed.  Women 
destined  to  associate  with  foreigners  are  specially 
brought  up  in  a  natural  manner.  This  anti-footbinding 
campaign  was  originally  set  on  foot  by  Mrs.  Archibald 
Little,  and  in  many  towns  there  is  now  a  T'ien  Tsu 
Hu'ei,  literally  Heavenly  Foot  Church.  At  the  time  of 
the  formation  of  this  league  a  great  number  of  the 
women  of  the  gentry  class  unbound  their  feet,  becoming 
worthy  devotees  of  the  cause  ;  but  among  the  middle 
and  the  lower  classes,  where  with  feet  unbound  it  is 
difficult  for  girls  to  secure  husbands,  the  old  barbarous 
custom  cannot  be  overthrown.  Girls  already  given 
for  marriage,  no  matter  how  great  their  desire,  could 
not  free  their  feet  for  fear  of  giving  offence  to  the  family 
of  the  husband  in  prospective.  A  case  came  under  the 
notice  of  the  writer  where  a  girl,  being  forced  to  keep 
her  feet  bound  for  this  reason,  deliberately  committed 
suicide.  Her  feet  were  bandaged  up  until  they 
looked  more  like  the  feet  of  a  doll  than  of  a  human 

436 


ANTI-FOOTBINDING    CAMPAIGN. 

being,  and  the  poor  girl  could  never  attempt  to  walk 
without  holding  on  to  someone's  hand,  and  was  carried 
up  and  down  the  narrow  flight  of  steps  leading  from 
one  courtyard  to  another. 

This  is  to-day  the  condition  of  all  the  women  of 
China  (excepting  some  of  the  tribes-people),  save  but 
an  infinitesimal  percentage  who  have  been  converted 
to  Christianity.  Women  are  thus  crippled  by  a  custom 
responsible  undoubtedly  for  the  enfeeblement  of  the 
mothers  through  countless  generations,*  having  the 
effect,  probably,  of  stunting  the  mental  growth  of  the 
Chinese  as  a  nation  ;  at  least,  some  aver  that  this  is  so. 
Physically  it  must  be  detrimental  to  the  women,  and  to 
the  writer's  knowledge  cases  of  blood  poisoning  and 
other  complaints  through  defective  circulation,  and  a 
host  of  ills  which  abused  Nature  is  heir  to,  can  be  traced 
to  compressed  feet. 

The  scholars  of  the  larger  cities,  particularly  those  at 
Yiin-nan-fu,  Tali-fu,  Tong-ch'uan-fu,  and  Chao-t'ong-fu, 
have  for  the  most  part  become  adherents  to  the  new 
regime,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  find  young  girls  now  able 
to  walk  on  the  streets  unaided.  Less  than  ten  years 
ago,  at  Chao-t'ong-fu,  a  family  was  hooted  and  pelted 
with  stones  because  the  girls  had  unbound  their  feet ; 
but  to-day  in  that  city,  there  is  a  girls'  school  (under 
the  able  control  of  Miss  Ethel  Squire,  B.A.)  run  by  the 
United  Methodist  Mission,  with  over  fifty  girls  all 
with  "  big  "  feet. 

Among  the  older  T'i-t'i  a  strong  antagonism  still 
exists,  on  account  of  the  increased  freedom  which 
unpinched  feet  give  to  women,  and  this  accounts  for 
the  large  number  of  children  who,  in  order  to  gain 
admission  to  the  schools,  only  partially  unbind,  wearing 
larger  shoes  to  escape  detection,  so  that  when  the  time 
comes  for  their  betrothal  they  can  revert  to  either  the 
large  or  the  small  foot  with  equal  veracity. 

Tong-ch'uan-fu  is  supposed  to  be  a  stronghold  of  the 
T'ien  Tsu  Hwei,  and  was  so  indeed  until  it  was  left 
entirely  to  the  Chinese.  The  chief  advocate  of  the  cause 
is  one  Liu  Shen  T'ang,  a  former  mandarin  of  Kwantung. 
Meetings  were  held  occasionally  in  the  temple,  when  the 
gospel  of  the  large  foot  was  propounded  with  remarkable 
vigour.     Women  addressed  the  crowds — women  on  the 

*  Footbinding  has  survived  since  the  T'ang  Dynasty,  a 
thousand  years  or  more. 

437 


ACROSS    CHINA    ON    FOOT. 

platform  in  Western  China  is  surely  a  proof  of  the  cult 
of  the  suffragette — but  whilst  frantically  advocating 
the  blessing  of  the  natural  foot,  some  of  the  speakers 
had  not  conformed  to  the  reform  they  preached,  having 
their  feet  covered  in  dainty  foreign  kid  shoes. 

This  bandaging  of  the  feet  is  merely  a  custom,  but  a 
custom  of  prodigious  power  and  popularity.  Dis- 
tinction between  the  size  and  shape  of  the  feet  of 
Chinese  women  has  for  centuries  constituted  the 
caste  of  China.  The  dominant  race  (the  Manchu 
Tartars)  do  not  allow  their  women  to  bind  their  feet  or 
to  cramp  them  in  any  way — it  unfits  a  beauty  for 
entrance  into  the  Imperial  harem,  and  the  penalty  is 
instant  death  should  any  small-footed  female  enter  the 
Imperial  palace  at  Peking  ;  or  so  it  is  reported. 
]  The  writer  was  privileged  on  one  occasion  to  photo- 
'  graph  the  foot  of  an  old  woman  and  that  of  a  young 
girl.  Both  were  ghastly  sights.  The  foot  was  extended 
at  the  ankle,  the  fleshy  part  of  the  heel  being  pressed 
downward  and  forward,  and  the  entire  foot  then  wound 
with  a  long  bandage  from  the  ankle  to  the  extremity  of 
the  toes  and  back  again.  Europeans  rarely  have  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  feet  which  have  for  years  been 
gradually  growing  into  this  horrible  deformity,  and 
many  would  not  care  to  if  they  could.  Usuall}'  it  takes 
from  three  to  four  years,  if  properly  attended  to,  for  the 
feet  to  be  cramped  into  the  "  genteel  "  shape.  The 
operation  of  binding  is  necessarily  very  painful,  and 
the  flesh  or  skin  often  breaks  or  cracks  as  a  consequence 
.of  compressing  the  toes  underneath.  Sores  often  are 
(formed  on  the  foot,  which  are  difficult  to  heal. 


The  End. 


438 


INDEX. 


Aborigines     of      Yiin-nan      {see 

Tribes) . 
Aden,  15. 

Ai  Kueh  Hsieh  T'ang,  234. 
America,   16,  306. 
American  Merchants,  46. 
Amoy,  402. 

Anning-cheo,  226,  22S,  230. 
Anpien,   83. 
Anti-footbinding   in   Western 

China,  436. 
Ash  tree,  Chinese,  245. 
Assam,  127. 
Author — 

Abandons    his   walk,    180-83, 

371- 
Advice    of    regarding    roads, 

330.  331- 
Among  the  Hua  Miao,  127-28, 

336. 
Among  the  Li-su  in  the  Salwen 

Valley,  364-8. 
Among  the  Shans,  371-7. 
Arrival  of  in  Burma,  385. 
As  a  medico,  308-09. 
Caravan  of,  190,  266,  267. 
Gets  his  arm  broken,   159. 
How  he  travelled  from  Tong- 

ch'uan-fu,   190. 
In  a  dilemma,  254,  25  s,  284, 

285. 
Itinerary  of,  391-7. 
Life  of  despaired  of,  181. 
Loses  himself,  88,  89. 
Nearly  drowned,  160. 
Suffers  from  dysentery,   182. 
Synopsis  of  travel  of  in  China, 

'398. 
Victim   to  malaria,    161,    181, 


Ban-chiao,  342,  344. 
Bank,    Hong-Kong    and    Shan- 
ghai,  14. 
"Barbarians,"  16. 


Bhamo  (Singai),  48,  100,  185, 
327,  354,  369,  370,  380. 
-  382,  384,  388. 

Bible  Christian  Mission,   136. 

Birth  of  children,  superstitions 
associated    with,    300,    301, 

304- 
Borings,  artesian,   59. 
Boxer  troubles,  68,  70. 
Boxerism,  114,  407. 
Brass  Smelting  Works,   176. 
Bridges,  211,  242,  338,  344,  355. 
British  East  Africa,  14. 
British  merchants,  46,  98. 
Broomhall,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hudson, 

53- 
Buddhism,  72,  365,  37S,  429,  430. 
Buddhists,  327,  373. 
Buffaloes,  345,  356. 
Buffalo  Mouth  Reach,  31,  33,  42. 
Bullocks  instead  of  pack-horses, 

345- 
Burma,     British,     52,    189,     190 

(note),    301,    325,    340,   34S, 

353,  369,  370,  378,  380.  385, 

387,  388. 
Butler,     Mr.     O'Brien,     British 

Consul-General  at  Yiin-nan- 

fu,  125. 

Calcutta,  380. 
Camera,  Author's,  268. 
Carlyle,  Thos.   (quoted),  275. 
Canadian  missionaries,  74,  75. 
Cangue,  carrying  the,  344. 
Canton,    107. 

Caravanserie  {see  China,  inns  in). 
Cartridges,  German,  98. 
Cash,  431. 

Catty  {see  Weights  and  Measures) 
Cedars,  245. 

Chairs,  need  of  in  China,  52,  y^. 
Ch'ang-p'o,  189,  205. 
Chao-chow,   227,   286,   288,   293, 
298,  299. 


439 


INDEX. 


Chao-fong-fu,  80,  82,  83.  85, 
99,  loi,  121,  124,  125,  140, 
158,  301,  365. 

The  Rebellion  of  1910,  110-25. 
Charges  for  food  in  China,  247. 
Che-chi,  189-91. 
Chefoo,  12. 
Chennan-chou,   267. 
Chen-tu,  51,  59,  168. 
Child-stealing,   123. 
Ch'i-li-p'u,  83,  84. 
China — 

Army    of,    210,    212-16,    232, 

415-19- 
Awakening  of,  187. 
Babies  in,  248. 
Barbaric  customs,  332, 
Central,  60. 
Changing,  6,  386. 
Civilisation    in,    6,    231,    294, 

296. 
Coinage  in,  433-7. 
Foreigners  in,  230,  233,  258. 
For  the  Chinese,  5,  6. 
Gaols  in,  210,  217-22. 
Inns  in,  59,  60,  61,  90,  99,  169, 

174,  181,  197,  199,  252,  260, 

362,  363. 
Interior,  4. 
Lack    of   privacy   in,    61,   91, 

318,  319- 
Modern  spirit  in,  68,  232,  385. 
Natural  wealth  of,  87. 
Opening  of,  65,  87. 
Reform  in,  5,  7,  71,   113,  210, 

214,  418-19. 
Revolting  sights  in,  347. 
River-borne   trade  of,   12,   78. 
Schools  in,  210,  222-5. 
Spirit   of  Europcanism  in,    5, 

387- 
The  New,  5,  6,  68,  69,  72,  294. 
Upheavals  in,  6. 
Weights     and     measures     in, 

399-402. 
Western  {see  Western  China). 
China  Inland  Mission,  17,  44,  52, 

75,  132,  228,  238,  367,  368, 

371- 
Chinaman,  definition  of,  319. 
China  :    Past  and  Present,  204. 
Chinese — 

Boatmen,  44. 

Business  traits,  14,  231. 

Cash,value cf ,  38,  100,431-435. 

Chairmen,  48. 


Chinese — 
Clothing,   15. 
Conservatism,   71,    174. 
Cooks,  28,  82. 
Dragon,  35. 
Gentry,  201. 
Good  faith  of,  16. 
Government,  6,  7,  231,  259. 
Indifference  to  comfort,   15. 
Junks,  9. 
Language,  Author's  ignorance 

of,  16,  280. 
Military  Progress  in,  415-19. 
Myths,  35,  333. 
New  Year,  357,  362,  374,  376, 

379- 
Officials,  69,  yG.  256,  257. 
Passports,  13,  16. 
Sanitation,  14. 
Sense  of  gratitude,  377. 
Students,  70,  223,  224. 
Weights    and   Measures,    etc., 

399-402. 
Women,  262. 

Written  language,  251,  252. 
Chinese  People — 

As  business  people,  230,  231. 
As  "  heathens,"  200. 
Betrothal  among,  237. 
Cruelty  to  animals,   170,  326, 

331- 
Culture  of,  299. 
Curiosity  of.  61,  329,  351. 
Filth  of,  276. 
Homes  of,  262,  324. 
Hospitality  of,  267,  341,  342. 
Ignorance  concerning,  4. 
Inconsistences  of,  188. 
Industry  of,  86. 
Lack  of  home  life  of,  324. 
Liars  by  nature,  250,  251. 
Persistence  of,  287. 
Poverty  of ,  loi,  103,  194,  195, 

278,  279,  281,  287,  307. 
Simplicity   of,    200,    229,    282, 

283,  308,  309,  329,  341. 
Straits-born,  231,  283. 
With     Westerners    compared, 

201-4,  250,  251,  253,  282-4, 

29S-8,  309,  310- 
Chinese  Recorder,  156. 
Chiu-ch'eng,  369,  371,  374.  17^- 
Cholera,  15. 

Christianity  in  China,  294,  295. 
Ch'u-hsiong-fu,     226,    227,    259, 

261,  263. 


440 


INDEX. 


Chung-king,  21,29,  34,42,  43,  44, 
48,     51,    54,     72,     82,    100, 
159,  188,  228,  313,  327. 
Consulate  at,  51. 
Progress  from  to  Sui-fu,  68. 
Chu'tsing-fu,   116,   180,  403. 
Ch'u-tung,    307,    315,    324,    326, 

327- 
Cigarette  trade  in  China,  100,  loi. 
Cinnabar,  59. 

Clark,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  228,  365. 
Climate  of  Asia,  69. 
Coal,  59,  97. 

Coinage,  Chinese,  431-435. 
Commissariat.  19. 
Confucianism,  72. 
Convicts,  Chinese,  259. 
Coolie,  A  refractory,  350,  351. 
Coolies,  53,  299,  319,  320,  326. 

Wages  of,  53,  54. 
Copper,  59,  97,  176,  178. 
Cotton,  English,  97,  345. 
Cotton  mills,  68. 
Cultivation,  Dense,  in  Szech'wan, 

55- 
Customs  service,  84,  106,  357. 

Daily  Telegraph,  198. 
Dak-bungalows,  380. 
Darjeeling,  380. 
Davies,  Major  H.  R.,   126,   128, 

131,  133,  227,  260,  288,  373. 
Discomfort   in   travelling,   60. 
Disease,  307. 
Distances,  Variation  in,  88,  164, 

401,  402. 
Dogs,  the  scavengers,  191. 
Doumer,  Paul,  211. 
Du  Bose,   Dr.   H.  G.,  The  late, 

quoted,  305. 
Du  Bose,  Mr.  H.  C,  quoted,  429, 

430. 

Eagle  Nest  Barrier,  270,  272. 

East  and  West  compared,  253, 
283-84,   381. 

Eastern  China,  66,  67. 

East  India  Company,  46. 

East,  The,  the  Land  of  Pan- 
theism, 378. 

Embery,  Rev.  W.  J.,  363,  371. 

Engineering,  211. 

Ethnology,  126,  127,  141. 

Evans,  Rev.  A.  and  Mrs.,  136, 
179,  180,    181. 

Explorer,  Author  as,  31. 


"  Face  "  in  China,  52,  53. 

Famine  in  China,  103,  287. 

Fang  Hsian  Hsia,   31. 

Fang-ma-ch'ang,    337.   351,   354, 

Fan-ih-ts'uen,  83,  89. 

Fans,  97. 

Far  East,  The — 

British  in,  8,  9. 

French  in,  8. 

Trade  in,  44. 
Federated  Malay  States,  14. 
Feng-mo,  277. 
Feng-shui-ling,  356. 
Feng  T'ou,  36. 
Feray,  Dr.  A.,  182. 
Firs,  Mountain,  245. 
Fleischmann,  Mr.  C.  A.,  182. 
Flour  Mills,  68. 
Foo-chow,  400. 
Footbinding,      271,      2;^7,      308, 

436-38. 
Foreign  devils,  16. 
Foreigners — 

Chinese  idea  of  age  of,  239. 

Diminishing  respect  for,   258. 
Forest,  Mountain,  315. 
Forrest,     Mr.     George,     quoted, 

365.  366. 
France,     Szech'wan     the    same 

size  as,  59. 
From      Peking      to      Mandalay 

(quoted),   297. 
Fuh  T'an  or  Tiger  Rapid,  35,  36. 
Fnsong.  72,  71.  207,  315. 
Fu-to-gwan,  53. 

Gloomy  mountain  gorge,  31. 
Glorious  Dragon  Rapid,  34,  35. 
Goddess  of  Mercy,  304,  305,  333. 
Goitre,   loi,  246,  247,  346,  403. 
Gold,  59,  178. 

Grandin,   Dr.  Lilian  M.,    140. 
Great  Britain,  13,  16,  107. 
Gunboats,  78,  159. 
Guns,  Japanese,  98. 

Haiphong,  45,  46,  209. 
Hankow,  11-14,  188. 
Hankow  Riots,  404-8. 

Commercial     and      Industrial 
futvire  of,   13. 

Riots  of  191 1,  6,  404-8. 
Han  River,   12. 
Han-yang,  12,  66. 
Heh  Miao,  132. 


441 


INDEX. 


Heh  Shih  T'an  (or  Black  Rock 

Rapid),  34. 
Hemp,  ^9. 
Herbert  Mr.,  78. 
Hicks,  Rev.  C.  E.,   156. 
Hides,  97. 

Highways,  Great,  of  China,  54. 
Ho-chiang-p'u,  307. 
Hochow,  82. 
Holcolme,  Chester,  quoted,  204, 

334- 
Hong-Kong,  7,  9,  45-7,  79,  230. 

Trade  with  West  China,  44. 
Hong-Kong  and  Shanghai  Bank, 

14. 
Hong-shih-ai,  157,  173,  174,  176. 
Hsiakwan,  227,  293,  301,  307. 
Hsia  Ma  T'an  (Dismount  Horse 

Rapid),  3S. 
Hsin  T'an  Rapids,  33. 
Hsiang-shui  Ho,  243. 
Hsiao-lang-t'ang,  194. 
Hsiao  Singai,  369,  379. 
Hsi  Liang,  Viceroy,  209. 
Hsin  Long  T'an,  or  New  Dragon 

Rapid,  34. 
Hua  Miao,    115,    120,    122,    125, 

127,   128,   131-140. 
Comparison    of   dialects,    133, 

134- 

Education  among,  234,  235. 

Emancipation  of  women,  235. 

FideUty  to  the  foreigner,  238 

Language  of,   135. 

Mission  work  among,  136,  140. 

Progress  of,  237,  238. 
Huan-chiang,  83,  88. 
Humour  in  travelling,  64. 
Hu-nan,  131. 

Hungay,  227,  281,  2S3,  286,  288. 
Hupeh,  13. 
Hua-chow,  332. 

Hwan-lien-p'u,     307,     315,    317, 
321,   326. 

Ichang,  1 1,  16,  32. 

Arrival  at,  16. 

Author  in  dilemma  at,  17. 

Departure  from,  20. 

Gorge,  Length  of,  30,  37. 

Gorge,  Storm  in,  22. 

Mission  at,  18. 

Railway,  Progress  of,  66. 
Imperial  Post  Office,  82. 
Imports,  345. 
Indo-China,  45,  211. 


Industrialism,  66,  67. 
Infanticide,  126. 
Inns  {see  China,  Inns  in). 
Inventions,   Animosity  towards, 

67,  68. 
I-pien,  115,  128,  141. 
Irawadi,  366,  373. 
Iron,  59. 

Iron  works  at  Han-yang,  66. 
Irrigation,    Antiquated    method 

of,  55,  206. 

Japan,    70,   232,   234,   292,    293, 

296,  306,  380. 
Johnston,  Mr.  R.  F.,  quoted,  295, 

296,  297. 

Kachins,  369,  382,  383. 

Christian    work    among,    382, 

383- 
Betel  chewing  among,  369. 
Kang-gnai  {see  Chiu-Cheng). 
Kan-lan-chai,  354,  362. 
Kiang-ti,  118,  125,  157,  165,  167, 

288. 
Kinsha,  H.M.S.,  16. 
Kongshan,  189,  194,  199. 
Kublai  Khan,  173. 
K'ung-shan,  176,  177. 
Kwang-tung-hsien,  227,  24Q,  253, 

256. 
Kwan-in  {see  Goddess  of  Mercy). 
Kwan-in    T'an    (or    Goddess    of 

Mercy  Rapid),  36. 
Kweichow,  13,  45,  52,  106,  210. 
Kweifu,  32,  43,  44. 

Lai-t'eo-po,  181,  189,  191,  193. 

La-ka  (tribe  of  Yiin-nan),  132. 

Lamp-oil,  97. 

Lan-chi-hsien,  49,  75. 

Lan-ching-ch'ang,  49. 

Lang-wang-miao,    179. 

Lao  Chang,  197,  200,  206,   249, 

250,  298,  300,  302,  311,  318. 

329,  343.  350,  354.  360,  364. 

379- 
Lao-kay,  211. 

Lao-wa-t'an,  83,  84,  92,  96. 
Lao-ya-kwan,  226,  238,  239. 
Lead,  97. 

Learning,  The  new  in  China,  70. 
Leng-shui-ch'ang,  346. 
Li-chiang-fu,  288. 
Li-chin  Hsi,  124,  413. 
Likin,   278. 


442 


INDEX. 


"  Lily"  foot,  The  {see  Footbind- 

ing)- 
Li-sh'ih-chang,  49,  63. 
Li-su    (tribe   of   Yiin-nan),    132, 

336,  364-8. 
Allied   to  Malays  or  Non-Su, 

365- 

As  huntsmen,  366,  367. 

Crossbow  of,  365-7. 

Graves  of,  365. 

Mission  work  among,  367,  368. 

Physical  characteristics  of,  366. 
Little,  Mr.  Archibald,  306. 
Litton,  Mr.  G.,  The  late,  117,365. 
Loh-in-shan,  131. 
Lolo,    128,    229,    276,    277,    307, 

313,   314. 
Lu-chiang-pa,  353.  355-  356,  364- 
Luchow,  48,  49,  63,  72,  74,  82. 
Lu-feng-hsien,  227,  242. 
Lui-shu-ho,  200. 
Liiho-kai,  227. 

Malaria,  Author's  sufferings  from, 

43,  161,  181. 
Malaysia  (and  Malays  and  Sakai) , 

132. 
Manchester  Goods,  170. 
IManchiis,   173. 
Man  Hsien,  381,  382,  384. 
Manyiien,  369,  378,  38 1,  384. 
Mao-tsao-ti,  369. 
Marco  Polo,  242. 
IMargary,    Murder    of,    in    1875, 

381. 
Market  days,  62. 
Mateer,  Dr.,  223. 
McCarthy,  Rev.  J.,  52,  420. 
Mclntyre,  Rev.  R.,  78. 
Medicine,  78. 
Mekong  River,  8,  84,  306,  336-8, 

355- 
Mengtsz,  100,  122,  247,  327. 
Merchants, British  and  American, 

46. 
Miao  {see  Ilua  Miao). 
Middle  Kingdom,  The,  52. 
Mien  Dien  {see  Burma). 
Mien    (Chinese   vermicelli),    253, 

282. 
Military  escort  {see  Fusong). 
Military  progress  in  China,  212- 

16,  303,415-19. 
Minchia,  229,  288,  289. 
Mines  in  Yiin-nan,  177. 
Machinery  used  at,  177. 


Mining,  87,   164,  176,  177. 
Missionaries,  122,  123,  185,  231, 

234,  293.  294- 

In  Burma,  3S3. 

Protestant,  178,  179,  237. 

Roman  Catholic,  178,  179. 
Mohammedan  Rebellion  of  1857, 

265,  303.  307.  332. 
Mohammedans,  86,  115,  327. 
Momien  {see  Tengyueh). 
Money,  Chinese,  431. 
Morse,  Mr.  H.  B.,  quoted,  402, 

435- 
Mother-in-law,       harshness      of, 

344- 
Mountains,  56,  59,  170,  171,  194, 
241,  243,  270,  278,  314,  321, 
322-4,  346,  363. 

Nanchao  Empire,  373. 
Nanking,  9,  13. 
Nantien,  369,  371. 
Nature,   26,    55,   56,   64,   65,   95, 
168,     171,     191,     192,    206, 
239,  241,  243,  259,  270,  273, 
274,275,310,313,314,321-4, 
357.  378,  380,  387. 
Chinese,  4,  352,  379. 
Niagara  Falls,  24. 
New  Di-agon  Rapid,  34,  35. 
New  Year,  Chinese,  4,  362,  379. 
Niu  K'co  T'an,  Ti^. 
Niu-Lan,  River,  167. 
Nou-su,   128,  140-156, 

Customs  and  household  life  of, 

144. 
Funeral,  153. 
Hill  worship  among,   154. 
Women,   145. 

Occident,  Inventions  of,  67. 
Occidentalisation,  210. 
Olyy,  French  gunboat,  34. 
Opium,  29,  59,  78,  86,  100,  104-8, 
212,  333-5. 

Exports  from  Yiin-nan,  107. 

People's  desire  for,  105. 

Smuggling,  105. 
Ox  Liver  Gorge,  30,  $2,  33. 

Pa-chiao-chai,  369. 
Pack-horses,    45,    84,    170,    191, 
228,  311,  325.  339,  345,  356, 

387. 
Pack  traffic,  46. 


443 


INDEX. 


Pai   Yi,    Chinese   name   for   the 

Shan,  372. 
Pantheism  in  the  East,  378. 
Pa-pu,   170. 

Parsons,  Rev.  H.  and  Mrs.,  137. 
Peking,  13,  177,  209. 
Persimmon,  313. 
Petroleum,    59. 
Pe-ts6  (Minchia),  288. 
Pharmacopoeia,  The  Chinese,  59. 
PhiUips,    Mr.,    Acting  Consul  at 

Chung-king,  51. 
Physiologists,   263. 
P'ing-p'o-t'ang,  338. 
Pioneer,  41. 
Plague,  103. 

Police  of  Yiin-nan-fu,  216,  217. 
Pollard,  Rev.  Samuel,  135. 
Polo  at  Chung-king,  51. 
Ponios,  51,  190. 
Porcelain,  97. 
Poppy,  55,  86. 
Poverty,  loi,  103,  194. 
Pretender   to   the   Throne,    The 

young,  of  Yiin-nan,  220-2. 
Priests,  36,  303,  305. 
Prisoners,  218-22. 
Privacy,    Lack   of,   61,  91,   318, 

319- 
Progress,  68. 
Public  shave  in  China  and  other 

countries     compared,     349, 

350. 
Puerh-tu,  92. 
P'u-k'ai,  60. 
Pu-peng,  227, 
Pu-piao,  346, 


270,  272,  276. 
349,  350. 


Railways,   45,    47,    66,    67,    86, 
87,   167,  211,  212,  323,   340, 
386. 
Proposed  Yiin-nan,  265,  380. 
Tonkin — Yiin-nan,     45,     209, 
211,  212,  225,  409-14. 
Rapids,  The  Yangtze,  32-36. 
Rapid,     Difficult     passage      of, 

37-41- 
Rats,  30. 
Rebellion,  103. 
Red  boats,  33,  37. 
Red  River,  69. 
Reform  {see  China). 
Religions  of  Europe  and  America, 

69,  70. 
Rice  Granary  Gorge,  30. 
Rice  Mills,  68. 


Roads,  85,  86,  95,  96,  170,  175, 
176,  228,  244,  249,  330-31 
(note),  332,  338,  339,  340, 
356,  370. 

Roberts,  Mr.,  American  Baptist 
Missionary,  383. 

Roman  Catholicism,  431,  432. 

Rusty  (Author's  pony),  189, 
228,  264,  327,  384. 

Sahara,  57. 
Saigon,  7,  8,  337. 

Life  in,  8. 

Paris  in  the  East,  8. 
Sa'i-ho,  115. 
Sakai   of   the   Malay   Peninsula, 

367- 
Salt,  59,  97,  229,  241. 
Salwen    Valley    (Valley    of    the 

Shadow  of  Death),  336,  352, 

353- 
Cause  of  its  bad  name,    353, 

354- 
Fallacy  about  danger  of  living 

in,  364. 
Shooting  in,  381. 
The  river,  355. 
Sanitation  of  Chinese  inns,  59. 
Sa-pu-shan,  132,  238. 
Savin,  Rev.  Dr.  Lewis,  loi,  140. 
Sei-tze,  227,  244. 
Sha-chiao-kai,  226,  227,  268. 
Shanghai,  3,  4,  7,  9,  10,  11,   14, 
17,  45,  46,  66,  188,  190,  400. 
Shanks,  the  coolie,  205,  247,  311, 

312,  339.  343.  354- 
Shans,  353,  356,  369-77. 

Characteristics  of,  371-4. 

Lazy  people,  373,  374. 
Shan  States,  353,  354,  366,  371, 

383. 
Shave,  Public,  349,  350. 
Sha-yung,  307,  331. 
Shih-men-k'an,   116,   127. 
Shao-p'ai,  193. 
Shepherds,  206. 
Shih  PaoChai  (or  Precious  Stone 

Castle),  35. 
Shui-chai,  336,  338,  340. 
Shui-pi  Ho,  313,  314. 
Shweli  River,  355,  366. 
Siam,  371. 
Siao-p'ing-ho,  360. 
Siao-shui-tsing,  324. 
Silk,  68,  78,  225. 
Industry,  225. 


444 


INDEX. 


Silk,   Yellow,   59. 

Silver,  59,  78,  178. 

Singai  {see  Bhamo). 

Singapore,  4,  7,  9,  79,  254,  261, 

354- 
Skins,  97. 

Slave-trading,   142. 
Sly,  Mr.  H.  E.,  51. 
Smelting,  Rough  methods  of ,  177. 
Smith,  Mr.  J.  L.,  51. 
Squire,  Miss  Ethel,  B.A.,  437. 
Stedeford,  Rev.  Charles,  125. 
Stevenson,  Mr.  Owen  S.,  424. 
Stevenson,  Robert  Louis,  91. 
Storm  on  the  mountains,  272-5. 
Sugar  cane,  347. 
Suicide  of  a  pony,  311. 
Sui-fu,  48,  75,  76,  78,  79,  80,  84, 
132,  170". 

Description  of  road  to,  53-79. 

Description  of  road  from,  83- 
100. 
Sui-Hsiang,  German  gunboat,  33. 
Sungari  River,  69. 
Switzerland,  Western  China  com- 
pared with,  323. 
Syndicates,  European,  67. 
Szech'wan,  13,  45,  54,  57,  59,  60, 
,^  ^     69,  86. 

As  Garden  of  China,  55. 

Inns  in,  59,  61. 

People  of,  6z,  293,  313. 

Thirst  of  the  coolie  of,  57. 

Ta-chiao,  190. 

Ta-chien-lu,  100,  327. 

Ta-hao-ti,  ^^7. 

T'ai-p'ing-p'u,  307,  310,  312,  313. 

Ta-kwan-ting,  83,  85,  99. 

Tali-fu,  104,  131,  176,  185,  216, 
226-8,  264,  265,  277,  288, 
301,  303,  306,  321.  322,  332, 
340,  350,  358,  363,  380. 

Tali-shao,  337,  338. 

Tan-t'eo,  83. 

Taoism,  Taoists,  yi,  327. 

Tao-iien,  125,  157,  158,  162. 

Taping  River,  371,  378,  381,  384. 

Ta-shui-tsing,  157,  163,  167. 

Ta  T'ong  T'an  (or  Otter  Cave 
Rapid),  32. 

Ta-wan-tsi,  83. 

Tea,  China,  57,  58,  97. 

Tea-houses,   57,  72,  356. 

Telegraphs,  67,  261. 

Temples,  332,  337,  338. 


Temples,  Buddhist,  36,  265. 
Tengyueh,    117,    185,    337,    350, 

357,  369.  370.  380. 
Teo-sha-kwan,  83,  84. 
The  Other  Man,   18,   19,  25,  27, 

28,  38. 
Tibet,  365. 
Tibetans,  331,  356. 
Tibeto-Burman  family,   128. 
Tien-chieng-p'u,  332. 
Tientsin,   13. 
Tin,  107. 

Ting-chi-ling,  227. 
Ting-wu-kwan        (Eagle        Nest 

Barrier),  270. 
T'o-ch'i,  115. 

Toileting,  Discomfort  of,  61. 
Tokyo,  Chinese  students  at,  70. 
Tong-ch'uan-fu,    114,    122,    123, 

125,  157,  161,  176,  179,  181, 

183,  185,  189,  234,  239,  276. 

285,  319.  355- 
Tong  Ling  Rapid,  32. 
Tonkin -Yiin-nan    Railway,     45, 

209,  211,  212,  225,  409-14. 
Torture    among    the    tribes    of 

Yiin-nan,  142. 
Towlines,  39. 
Trackers  in  the  Yangtze,  20,  35, 

39.  40,  41- 
Trade,  46,  67. 

British  in  Yiin-nan,  47,  212. 
Development  of,  46. 
Energy  of  Szech'wanese  in,  63. 
French  in   Yiin-nan,  47,    212, 
425,  428. 
Tribes  of  Yiin-nan,  126-56. 
Tribespeople    of    Yiin-nan,    234, 

236,  237. 
Ts'ang  Shan,  321. 
Tseh  Ch'un  Hsiian,  69. 
Tseng  Kong  Pao,  Viceroy,  209. 
Ts'eo-ma-k'ang,  49. 
Tyranny   over    Yiin-nan    tribes, 

129,  130. 
Typewriter,  Packing  of,  98. 

ijin-ch'uan-hsien,  49. 

United  Methodist  Mission,  120, 
125,  136. 

Urishan  Hsia  (or  Gloomy  Moun- 
tain Gorge),  31,  33. 

Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death 

{see  Salwen  Vallcj-). 
Village  life,  340,  341. 


445 


INDEX. 


Walking  tour,  Start  of,  48. 
Wan  Hsien,  34,  35,  43,  44,  82. 
Wa's,  117. 
Weights  and  Measures,  Vagaries 

of-  399-402. 
Weining,  1 1 7. 
Weining-chow,  413. 
Western  China,  60,   79,    86,   98, 
198,  306,  322, 

Imports  of,  46. 

Roads  of,  54. 
Whang-poo.  9,  1 1. 
Wheat,  55,  88. 
White  wax,  59,  78,  97. 
Windbox  Gorge,  31. 
Windlass,  59. 

Woodlark.  H.M.S.,  31,  33,  42. 
Woo-sung,  9. 
Wuchai,  83,  95,  99. 
Wu-ch'ang,  13. 
Wupan,  26,  27,  43,  76. 


Ya-ko-t'ang,  168. 
Yalung  River,  131. 
Yang  Daren,  303,  304. 
Yang-kai,  189,  199,  201. 
Yang-lin,  200,  205,  207. 
Yang-pi,  307,  322. 
Yangtze,  5,  9,  12,  45,  46,  78,  95, 
167,  287,  293. 
Advice  to  travellers  through, 

25,  26. 
Difficulties  in  ascending,  29. 
Gorges,   11,  21,  22-26,  30,  31, 
44. 


Yangtze,  Mrs.  Bishop's  descrip- 
tion of,   25. 

Rapids,  Schedule  of,  32-6. 

Speed  of  current  in,  39. 

Temperature  in,  28. 

Upper,  23,  26, 

Wrecks  in,  44. 
Yeh  T'an  (or  Wild  Rapid),  33,  37, 

42. 
Yei-chu-t'ang,  194. 
Yi-che-hs'in,  157,  168. 
Yili  Ho,  191. 
Yin-wa-k\van,  227. 
Yung-ch'ang-fu,    337,    342,    344, 

345.  346,  351.  357- 
Yung-p'ing-hsien,  327,  331. 
Yiinnan,  7,  45,  54,  60,  68,  71,  84, 
92,  99,    107,    195,   210,   212, 
214,  215,  293,  330,  333. 
French  in,  425. 
Health  in,  425-28. 
Inns  in,  59-61. 
Peeps  into  history  of,  420-4. 
Plateau  of,  200. 
Railway,  211. 
Yun-nanese,  228,  235. 
Yiin-nan-fu,  45,  84,  98,  ioi,"'i04, 
116,  124,  132,  167,  175,^176, 
180,   182,   209-25,   226,228, 
250,  301. 
Gaol,  217. 
Miliraty,  212. 
Police,  216. 
Schools,  222. 
Yiin-nan-hsien,  227. 
Yiin-nan-i",  227,  279,  281. 


J.    W.    ARROWSMITH    LTD.,   PRINTERS,    BKISTOL,    ENGLAND 


r' 


BfMrtp' 


J    W.  A, 


BE   EMPIRE,  19{ 


" T 

" 

"  ,      ^'          ;         ;'\        •"   1^ 

'■•. 

--V,                              \                              .    ^6^""^^^''.^^^    ^Tl                     " 

^"  "  "  ".„„„u..„.WirJ 

^;                                     ■■--.                              <.'          '/C""'',P^''^^^:2> 

-'■■'                                  r" 

■^                  H    U   P  C  H                     """'-■--.,.)           ,^"'              J ^'~~~-                         J^iflMffl 

^.^: 

y^ 

^as^,„.„,„,^.     ^_  /  «-^  y^      "  ^X^ 

"'■-f 

''^fr^K.^ 

\  :■  ) -s                  ..^s^^s^^;^'"'  i^-- 

(' 

'^    ;    1     )  ^■,--,V'-.                   ^^^''■-'" '■'" 

J 

___,'«^^     S                 T                .,i-.                  yv 

M\  \'  "'"'■.^^>3 

( 

:":>/  ^^^'  /■"■'■../-/ 

)    I                   ^"""^          Jjfe.-^,  7     K  w  c  '  c  H  0  w 

N. 

\                        r'           .  ' '  ''    x^ 

•■'■■3... 

c- S 

J          '               —1. 

^.,,^J._,^"        «.,-<^ 

__  BHio.-"  '":r;».-s.J       "^       \ '  ""^■^  '■■■V$;;-.        c.^.^,, — — ■' 

'».U       "     **                                                                                    \iw.-. 

y           L               ^ 

N. 

\    ^^^^i^^^'^^    SI 

<^-'                 0^^ 

J     ^^J^J^    , 

c    If                1                                    ,-•'""•■•. 

\       '^'^^/  Lis^     \  / 

w    \        \     -;■•-■  ^"•■■- ■- ■  .  ^:           ""^-pi 

'  u!  A^xi^iJ 

1                                 \ 

L.-- 

,"^  'C 

MAP  SHOWING  ITINEHARY  OF  EDWIN  J    DINGLE'S  TRAVELS  IN  THE    CHINESE  EMPIRE,  1909.10 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000  980  181    2 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17  •  Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  It  was  borrowed. 


iVlAlf 


ft 


For 


3  '158  00286  9583 


'III 


DS 

710 

D6l5a 


\ 


S^' 


